Avenger'd
by DarkMousyRulezAll
Summary: You'd think that anyone would notice the Tesseract acting more odd than usual while perched up at the top of Stark Tower. You'd think a teenage girl knows better than to walk towards a swirling vortex of doom. You'd think that this author would think of a better summary. no other pairings besides canon; brotherly/sisterly!Avengers towards OC...T for PG13 rating! R&R please!
1. Falling from the Sky

**WOO! Yeah another story I'm gonna start and sporadically update! **

**I was actually planning on doing Titan'd before Avenger'd...but...meh, with lack of TT material (not counting the newly surfaced Teen Titans GO! XP ) and overabundance of MCU/Avengers material I figured, what the hell I'll write this one first. But in my weird little headcanon, Titan'd is still before this.**

**Well, I bet you're all wondering what the bloody heck I'm rambling about. Well, here's the story. Back in my more youthful days, I was obsessed with insert-OC stories, and I wrote this god-awful piece of self-insert called Lyoko'd, resembling how I as the character was transported into the CL universe. But as I was young and foolish, I broke many fourth walls and Mary-Sued myself, and long story short, it is now in the forever lost archives of my old desktop. **

**Anyway, as much as that was a fail I realized last year that the concept wasn't all that horrible, as long as I tweak the character "I" portray and not go overboard with the fourth wall. So keeping with the theme I came up with the idea for Titan'd, being in the Teen Titans universe, and Avenger'd being the MCU Avengers universe. So yup. Technically I could consider this a crack fic idea cuz I came up with it in the shower hahaha, mental dialogues and such. **

**Anyway, I based this female character off of myself, being a life guard (it's so easy to fall into a magical portal reflected in a pool!) and basically my general appearance and basic attitude. This character will not have my name of course. And I will not make it anything like My Immortal, as I am not intending on pairings besides the canon ones. **

**And forgive me if I tend to favor Iron Man over the other Avengers, I'm not saying I will indefinitely, but it could happen, as RDJ does that character so much justice~ X3 but I do equally love all of them lost creatures! (maybe even Loki :P )**

**So without any further ado, chapter one of Avenger'd!**

**I don't own MCU, or mention of Doctor Who. I only own "myself" and this totally badass plunny.**

* * *

_**Avenger'd**_

_**Chapter One**_

_Yeah, because I travel through time and space on a monthly basis. No, honestly though, you wouldn't believe how many people ask me. I get asked weird nerdy stuff like if I have some sort of TARDIS or if I was secretly a witch, or if I'm actually from another dimension trying to find my way home or some nonsense. But let's face it here people, I'm just a girl trying to live a __**NORMAL**__ life. Except __**NORMAL**__ just isn't what the universe asked for I guess. Too mainstream or something._

_Do I have a point? Maybe. Or I could keep on rambling for the next hour…what was I writing this for? Oh yeah, right, story, I'm supposed to explain what happened to me last year. God, that was crazy insane._

_It all started like this…_

I let out a huge breath of air as I finished skimming the pool after the last patron left. Being the only lifeguard on duty had its perks, and its disadvantages, wouldn't a girl know? After putting the net away and closing the umbrellas, I stood beside the lifeguard chair, gazing at the crystal clear pool water, my figure reflected on the surface. My reflection mimed my picking at my red baggy pants and shirt, and I smirked. Grabbing my clothes out of my pack, I went to the bathrooms to change into my regular outfit, which consisted of a turquoise-green jacket over a white camisole and jean shorts. After changing, and staring at my reflection stone-faced, I returned to the lifeguard chair.

"Well, I guess I'm done here," I muttered to myself, glancing up at the clear sky, painted with flaming hues.

As I started out, there was a sound that resembled a crack of thunder, and the earth beneath me trembled. I crouched low to the ground, trying to keep myself stable as the ground shook with tremors I had never felt before, living a whole 16 years without feeling an earthquake. As I struggled to stand, I looked behind me to see that the pool water was swirling into a vortex, and all of a sudden, the vortex turned a deep purple-black color. My already wide hazel eyes widened as far as they could possibly go, the pupils extremely contracted.

"What the hell…is that?!" I exclaimed shakily, crouch-walking closer to get a better look. Oh my, now _that_ was the brilliant idea of the year. As I walked closer, I had bet mentally that the earth literally threw me off the ground, sending me headfirst into the chaotic swirling abyss.

Yeah, real smart. Disadvantage, check.

"You will all fall before me!" the God of Mischief shouted in a whisper before throwing one Anthony Stark out the window of Stark Tower. Almost immediately after, the Mark VII suit shot out from behind and followed Tony, automatically attaching itself to the billionaire. Tony shot back up to the window to face the green-eyed Asgardian.

"Oh yeah, there was one other person you managed to piss off! His name was Phil!" he snarked, blasting Loki with his flight stabilizers.

All of a sudden, the Tesseract's energy sent a pulse that reverberated through a 5 mile radius, knocking Tony through the air.

"What the hell?" he muttered, getting himself upright and flying up to the top of Stark Tower. The cube was pulsing erratically and making a faint humming noise. He let out a breath of realization. "Right…army!" But then he remembered JARVIS telling him before that he couldn't penetrate the barrier surrounding the Tesseract. "Damn, what's there to do?" he said to himself, aerially circling around the portal generator, whose humming continued to get louder.

A huge peak of energy erupted from the device and shot a beam into the sky, creating a large vortex in midair. Tony readied his weapons and his fierce brown eyes locked on the center of the portal.

"Let's go!" he shouted, flying up towards the opening. But what surprised his was that there was no army of Chitauri aliens flying in on their hover speeders nor was there any other kind of super alien weapon of mass destruction. Tony looked around, confused.

"_Stark! What's happening up there?"_ Cap's voice came ringing over the com link.

"Nothing."

"_What do you mean, nothing?"_

"I mean, Rogers, the portal opened, but nothing is coming out of it, no army, no nothing!" Tony replied hastily, glancing down at Dr. Selvig, still unconscious from the rebound blast. The SHIELD jet came into view, Clint and Natasha looking up to see the empty portal.

"Whatever's going on up there, it's to our advantage if Loki's army is being delayed," Black Widow said, glancing to Barton who nodded.

At the top of Stark Tower, Loki recovered from Tony's attack and gazed furiously at the sky.

"Why are the Chitauri not coming?!" he growled in a low voice.

The jet landed on the ground below the portal, and the three heroes inside came out and looked up. Suddenly, the portal quivered and a figure was dropped into the open air.

"_Tony!" _rang Rogers' voice, causing the Iron Man to look up, seeing the figure freefall from the now-collapsing portal. Tony gasped.

"It's…a girl!" he said, and before another second passed, he shot underneath the falling figure and caught her in his arms. "And she looks…human."

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_****_**So...yeah, maybe a little anti climactic ending but heck I didn't know how to end it.**

**REVIEW AND YOU SHALL GET COOKIES!**

**-DMRA**


	2. Who is she?

**WOO update in 24 hours, is that even possible for me anymore? hahaha! XD Thankfully I happened to be on the computer for my homework anyway so after work I just figured I'd update, you know, to build suspense and all.**

**So yup! Thanks to those of you who followed, favorited and reviewed, and I hope those numbers will continue to increase! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plunny and "myself" YAY!**

**Can't I just please be on the film crew for Cap 2 or something? TTATT**

* * *

_**Avenger'd**_

_**Chapter Two**_

Loki was furious, to put it mildly. His brilliant plan, had all but failed! Everything was perfectly done: the generator, the baiting of the so-called Avengers, the arc reactor powering the cube, Stark's manipulation could have been done better, but the portal was supposed to work, it HAD to work!

After the Iron Man had caught the falling human, Loki growled in a furious rage and used his staff to shut off the Tesseract. The portal closed and the raging god collected the still-unconscious astrophysicist, intending on getting his answers.

Meanwhile, Dr. Banner and Thor joined up with the other members of the Avengers, all now crowded around the girl. Thor looked up, and became solemn.

"My brother has gone," he stated in a low voice, dropping the arm carrying Mjolnir to his side. "Most likely to find out why his promised Chitauri failed to come." The others nodded, also curious, though relieved, to that fact. Bruce looked down on the teen, eyes analyzing her with scrutiny.

"She's still breathing, but we probably should move to a…" he looked around at the current scene, passerby starting to crowd. "…more safe or private place, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Tony and Steve both agreed. Tony suggested that the Avengers all move to the Stark Tower, now that Loki had gone to recuperate.

"Because Stark Tower is just the perfect label of safety," Natasha quipped, doubtful of the Tower, since Loki could still have ways of getting in. Tony scoffed.

"Uh, heh-yeah, actually it is, besides the elevator problem, but I'm getting that fixed," the billionaire added, with a slightly acidic twinge. "JARVIS's security network is impenetrable and besides, I don't think taking her back to the Helicarrier is the brightest of ideas, seeing as Fury would have a field day." The black-clad assassin pondered this thought for a moment, and then nodded in agreement. "Then it's settled. I'll let you guys in from the top."

With that, Tony rocketed to the roof of Stark Tower, leaving the other Avengers on the street below. Returning inside the penthouse area and dismounting the Mark VII, Tony set the teen down on the couch, wistfully glancing at her, and then activated his computers.

"JARVIS, do a full scan on her. I need to know, who, what, where and how!" he ordered.

"Right away, sir," the AI complied in its crisp accent, running a holographic beam on the girl. While the artificial entity looked over the girl, Tony went and got himself another drink. "I am receiving no identity for this girl in any of my databases. She is a Jane Doe as of now."

"Mm."

"She is most definitely human, age 16, Caucasian, and besides the somewhat erratic heartbeat, her functions are that of a normal person."

"Mr. Stark? A group of five individuals wish to come to the penthouse, should-?"

"Let them up, they're the Avengers," Tony replied without glancing to the elevator. "Normal human huh?" he mused. "How come you fell outta the sky then?"

A soft ding of the elevator was heard, and the gold colored doors opened to Thor, Cap, Hawkeye, Widow, and Banner.

"So, what's the deal?" Cap asked after the six of them settled in the penthouse. Tony brushed his hand over his face in a stressed motion.

"According to JARVIS, she's a completely normal human, run of the mill teenager," he answered slowly, still trying to understand this.

"Normal humans do not just fall out of the sky or disrupt the Tesseract," Thor commented in a brusque manner.

It was then that the teen started to stir.

* * *

I was falling. Falling through an abyss of darkness and, for lack of a better word, space. But it couldn't have been space, because I was still breathing, or just barely anyways. It was somewhat surreal, drifting in this pool of onyx atmosphere. I could hear muffled voices floating in and out of my ears, but nothing solid or resolute.

All of a sudden, I felt a biting chill around me, like I was being overwhelmed by a snowstorm of cold. I curled up into a ball, trying to not freeze (if that could even happen in this dreamlike space?) and then I heard a cruel, menacing laughter that seemed to come from all around me. I lifted my head, and almost immediately I locked eyes with a pair of glaring emeralds, that seemed to be piercing into my very heart.

"_Mortal…"_ the eyes appeared to whisper in a hauntingly silky voice.

"Who are you?!" I shouted into the black, the eyes having disappeared after I opened my mouth. But no answer was received, and almost all at once, I felt my consciousness lift.

My eyes felt heavy and I hadn't realized they were closed, but my eyelids fluttered at the sounds my ears were now picking up.

"_Normal humans do not just fall out of the sky or disrupt the Tesseract!"_

I unconsciously let out a groan, to which the other sounds became quiet. My eyes slowly blinked open, and at first what I saw was no more than a blurry image.

"She's awake!" I heard someone muffle, and I blinked lazily once again. As the image started to focus I could make out six figures, one of which had messy brown hair and facial hair to match with a glowing circle of light radiating through his shirt, and behind him was a man in a red white and blue outfit, two others in all black gear, one in disheveled baggy clothing with glasses and lastly, a blonde haired figure in armor and a red cape, seemingly holding some kind of hammer. As I continued to blink, the people became clearer, and my eyes widened significantly.

"W-where am I?"

* * *

**Woo typical cliffy ending right there. **

**That weird little dreamscene was just kinda what happened in the OC's subconscious after passing out through the time/space rift. XD **

**Sorry if anyone seemed OOC, if anyone does, I'll be sure to work on it. I kinda feel like Thor and Hawkeye were just there. idk maybe I'll get better at writing them all in a room together later. *shrug***

**Review please! I love hearing feedback, and maybe an idea can be inspiration or used on a future chapter!**

**-DMRA out!**


	3. Meet the Avengers

**Chapter Three is up and running! Woo! This is the most I've updated in a while, heeheh...Honestly, I should probs work on my other more needing fanfictions (cough FMA/HP cough Experiment cough Ghosts! cough cough cough cough) well yeahp here it is! :D I just watched Captain America, officially and now I honestly love Cap even more than I did before! Aaahhh poor Steeevvveee XD**

**As to review replies, Frostivy, I don't plan on her being a fangirl...tried that before, kinda broke harlem. But yeah, I might be like "Superheroes are comic book things!" or something idk...Guest 5/31/13, okydoky, here's another chappy for ya. Avengerlicious, thank you, glad you loved it! And last but certainly not least, JaysWings, welcome to the other side of the comic book world that I write! XD I'm glad you like it, and yeah, gotta love Iron Man XD (he's my kinda personal favorite too XD shh don't tell Hulk!)**

**You all will receive boxes of internet cookies! *sends boxes* THERE YA GO! Thank you all for reviewing!**

**Tony: Will you get on with the story, please? I want the readers to see my awesomeness.**

_**Me: ...Tony Stark muse...my life...just...is...complete *faints of pleasure***_

**Tony: uh...hey...Authoress? Uhp, well she's out...ah, that means I have to do her disclaimer?**

**Disclaimer! By Tony the Badass Stark**

**Tony: DarkMousyRulezAll owns nothing but "her" character and the plot! **

* * *

_**Avenger'd**_

_**Chapter Three**_

A ringing silence followed my hesitated question. The man with the glowing chest tried to give a snarky smirk, which was hidden by the serious look in his eyes.

"Well, Dorothy, you're certainly not in Kansas anymore," he said quite seriously, while hiding a laugh, as he turned to the man in red, white, and blue with a grin.

"Cut the _Oz_ jokes Stark, now is not the time!" he yelled at the brown-haired- Stark –with a frown. The man named Stark pouted in a childish manner.

"Come on, Rogers, for all we know her name could be Dorothy and she could be from Kansas! That tornado could've sent interference with the Tesseract and caused it to malfunction," he quipped with a shrug. I stiffly turned my head to the others, noting that the blonde with the armor looked very confused at Stark's statement.

"Tornado?" he wondered aloud. "How could such a mortal storm disrupt an Asgardian artifact of such strong magic?" Stark stifled a laugh while the others looked like they were all about to choke the man.

"You'll get it eventually, Point Break," Stark said condescendingly, patting the armored man on the back. I temporarily closed my eyes, due to a massive headache forming.

My head was spinning around in too many circles for me to count. What in all heck had happened?! I was at the pool, earthquake, fell into that portal thing, woke up here…with these strange bickering people making references to old movies? Like that makes _any_ sense whatsoever…

"Are you alright?" a soft-spoken voice asked. I opened my eyes to see the man with the glasses staring at me worriedly with his dark brown eyes. I made an incomprehensible mumbling noise, before bringing my hand up to clutch my forehead.

I saw blue sparks, heard a rumble and stared at a pair of beastly emerald eyes, followed by a menacing scream.

"Hey!"

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I was snapped out of that vision. I looked up, and all's attention was on me once again, Stark, Rogers, and the armored man having finished their odd argument. I looked over at the disheveled bespectacled man again, and took a breath.

"Sorry," was what I managed to cough out. I sat up, the man helping me, and out of the corner of my eye I spotted a large window, with what looked like a cityscape outside of it. I looked all around at them again before repeating my previous question. "Where am I?"

"You're in the Big Apple. New York City," Stark answered. "Stark Tower to be precise." Stark flashed a prideful grin at me.

Wait…I was in New York? But how?

"I've never remembered there being a 'Stark Tower' in New York," I commented, narrowing my eyes. He seemed pretty blown off by my statement.

"Well, then, you must've lived under some pretty big rock," he retorted, now a little pissed. "Because even if you haven't seen it here, it's been all over the news, all over the world probably!"

But that's impossible…

"That can't be right…" I muttered, tensing and feeling like I was gonna throw up any minute. "Who are you people?" Stark seemed to have taken my question as a challenge, because he snorted through his nose and gave a wide smile. _(Much to the chagrin of the others in the room, duly noted). _

"We-hell alright then!" he said with a smirk. "This guy over here next to ya is Dr. Bruce Banner. Don't get him angry." Dr. Banner groaned beside me as Stark patted him on the back.

"Spangles here is Captain Steve Rogers, he's a pretty heavy sleeper." Rogers looked at Stark with a death glare that could have killed Hitler. He strode next to the two clad in black. On his right was a woman with short red hair, slightly wavy, with multiple guns holstered.

"This beautiful young spy right beside me is Agent Romanoff. Don't believe that she speaks Latin," he added in an undertone, which caused her to sock him in the arm. On his left was a younger man with short, spiked up blonde hair and sharp blue eyes, on his back a high-tech quiver.

"This social butterfly is Agent Barton. Good with arrows, loves to fide in vents." From the way it looked to me, it seemed like Barton wanted to stick him with an arrow. Stark made his way to the armored man.

"Point Break, also known as Thor, this guy loves his hammer, doncha?"

I frowned confusedly.

"Thor…as in Norse god of thunder?" I asked cautiously. "That the same person?" The man- Thor –nodded.

"I am indeed, Thor Odinsson, of Asgard," he confirmed, crossing his arms, and showing off his hammer, from what I guessed to be Mjolnir, from what little I knew about confusing-as-hell Norse mythology.

"Damn…" I whispered lowly. Heck for all I knew I could be stuck in a psych ward, after drowning in a 4 foot deep swimming pool, hallucinating about imaginary towers and Norse gods and guys with glowing chests. Heh.

Stark then walked in front of me, as if presenting himself.

"Last, but of course, not least, me. _Of _course you don't need to be told, because you must already know, I'm Tony Stark, and I'm Iron Man," he gloated with a huge toothy grin that attracted glares of daggers on him from almost all eyes. I gave him a completely deadpan look.

"And…I have absolutely no idea who you are."

* * *

Loki paced back and forth heatedly, firstly and absolutely terrified of Thanos and his emissary's threat, but not to any visible eyes, and secondly, totally and completely in utter darkness to the event that which stopped his army. He had questioned Dr. Selvig to no end, who kept babbling about the interference, and his data being perfectly constructed, and then something about another universe. Loki shook his head. In due time the man would calm down and remember the events, so that Loki could properly probe his mind for answers.

The God of Mischief scoffed, punching a stone wall beside him. His retreat was cowardly, like a crying mouse running from the hungry cat. Loki was not a coward, he hated being forced into a corner and he would have his revenge.

In his mind's eye, the god met the scared hazel irises of the mortal who had fallen from the sky. Something about her had set off the power of the Tesseract, and he would find out.

And when he did, he planned to proceed with his plan to rule Midgard, without any interferences.

* * *

**Tony: Hey! *pokes me* Hey DMRA. Chapter. Is. Over.**

**_Me: oh...um..heheheh sorry bout that guys._  
**

**So, now "I" have met everyone, Tony's a bit shellshocked that "I" don't know who he is. And Loki is being all crafty. Woo.**

**Steve: Personally I think Stark forgot we were dealing with parallel universes. I'm not surprised she didn't know.**

**Tony: Shut your mouth, Rogers, it's not every day that happens you know! And it's not like she was from Asgard or something, she knew NYC, I just assumed!**

**Steve: Yeah, forgetting the fact that she fell out of the Tesseract portal.**

_**Me: HEY, BREAK IT UP!**_

**Review pwease, in that convenient little box down below and you will make me very happy! :D**

**-DMRA out!**


	4. Mass Hysteria

**Heyyyaaa MINNA!* (means "everyone" in Japanese! Teehee! XD) I finally started summer! Last week was pretty much hell with work AND studying for finals and doing finals, but alas, I've managed to survive, somehow! :D So I'd figured with three days off from work, I'd work instead on updating Avenger'd (I should really work on my others but oh the heck well!) Hope you guys enjoy Chapter Four as much as I enjoyed writing it! **

**There were only two reviews on Chapter 3, to my discontent, thought more people would review and enjoy the little nuances but oh well...Here are replies:**

**Avengerlicious, thank you muchly, and thanks for reviewing! MST45667, ...took me a while to decipher what you said, but...thanks! and I will! Thanks for reviewing!**

_**Disclaimer time! **_

**As I have mentioned...I TOTALLY OWN MARVEL!**

_***Avengers, Spiderman, X-Men, Daredevil, Elektra, and Fantastic Four, all give me a death glare.* **_

**heheh...kidding, guys, I was kidding! I WAS KIDDING ACCCKKK!**

* * *

_**Avenger'd**_

_**Chapter Four**_

As the words left my mouth, the cocky brown-haired man seemed to fall over, like the characters on cartoons do with an added anime-sweat-drop. I looked quickly around to see that the others were stifling laughs _(except for Barton and Romanoff who were laughing more openly at his antics, duly noted)._ I turned my head to look at Dr. Banner, genuinely confused, and he reciprocated with an amused smile.

"Was it something I said?" I asked with a slightly twitching smile. Dr. Banner shook his head while the two agents composed themselves.

"Nah, it's just a little culture shock, I doubt Tony's ever met a girl who's never heard of his name before," he explained, giving a chuckle as Tony stood up. He regarded me with a dangerous caution in his eyes, like I was some kind of weird otherworldly demon.

"Who in the world are you to not have ever heard of me?" he asked, bewildered beyond comprehension. I opened my mouth to reply, but before the words came out, Steve went over to Tony.

"You _do_ remember she fell out of the portal meant for the Chitauri, right? Alternate dimension?" Steve prodded him in a low voice, causing the man's eyes to widen and then narrow in annoyance. "Even I can comprehend that." Tony made a _tch _noise and crossed his arms.

"Of course I remember. I just assumed that since she wasn't some Asgardian or ugly as hell alien that she knew about me, being who I am. You know, since she knew good ol' NYC," he added, regarding me with a grin. I blinked slowly, unsure of how to react. Was this all for real? Aliens? Asgardians? Guys with LED lights shining out of their chests, and people running around in costume like everything's all perfectly normal?

This had to be some sort of wind-up, or crazy dream…

I contemplated pinching myself, before Agent Romanoff, Agent Barton, and Thor _(seriously? He was THE Thor?)_ joined Rogers and Tony in front of the couch with Dr. Banner and me. Subconsciously, I straightened up with all of their eyes being on me. Finally taking initiative before anything else happened, I spoke.

"This…isn't just a big set-up is it? Like a movie, a prank show, it isn't like that is it?" I asked pleadingly, and hurriedly, to most of their shock, excluding Captain Rogers, who seemed to react as if pitying my action, as if it were familiar to him.

"Why do you ask that?" the dubbed God of Thunder asked in reply. I acknowledged him.

"Well…you claimed to be Thor, like the Norse myths, and as far as I've remembered, myths are just myths, no matter how much you want the opposite…" I trailed off, mentally cursing myself for rambling. "How am I supposed to believe that you're not just an actor dressing up in Medieval armor and playing a role?"

I turned to Steve and Tony. "And you two talking about aliens and chitari or something, and alternate dimensions! That's all sci-fi stuff," I scoffed. "Yeah, there's more than us out there, but the technology of the planet now is nowhere near going to find anything, especially that of the whole _"doomsday alien attack for no reason but to conquer planets_" scenario."

Finally, I pointed to Tony's glowing chest. "And that thing, is it a part of your shirt, a weird trend, a movie prop? Honestly, the only place you see that is in Hollywood. How in the heck do I know _any_ of this is real?!"

My throat felt dry and I coughed for a few silent seconds afterwards, having practically yelled my last statement. All of the people seemed to glance at one another unexpectedly, and then another minute of awkward silence ensued. My eyes began to prick with fluid at the unresponsive nature of everyone, and I shut my eyes, pinching myself in the arm many times, hard. I bit my lip to distract from the minor pain, thinking briefly for a fleeting moment that it would all go away.

But I opened my eyes, and I saw the same, coalition of men and woman, all staring, even more so, with contempt and pity, at me. I looked around fearfully, choking back on the unshed tears. Slowly, Captain Rogers approached me, and knelt down in front of me. He gazed silently for a moment at me with very clear, unwavering blue eyes that echoed with similarity.

"I know…you must be very frightened," he said softly. "Frightened to have woken up in a strange place very different from where you were, in a place you can barely comprehend, with people you have never known. I understand."

My lip trembled as I heard him speak. I could hear the same concern in his voice as I could feel within myself. I could only nod in reply.

"I know that it's crazy right now, especially here and at this time, but you'll have to just move along with the rest of us. We'll help you, alright?" I slowly nodded. "All that I can say is that you'll have to accept most of which is happening as true, okay? I know it's ridiculous at times, but it's all real."

"Alright," I whispered with a shaky smile. Steve smiled back and Dr. Banner patted my back comfortingly. The tension seemed to lessen with that and Tony grinned again as Steve stood up.

"Way to do it, Rogers. Didn't know you had a way with girls," he joked, causing Steve to glare lightly at his comrade. Agent Romanoff stepped forward, and regarded me with a professional, but calm smile.

"Could you tell us what happened before you woke up?" she asked in a cool voice. "It may help us figure out what happened on our side." I nodded, and relayed the events to the group.

* * *

"…and then I was tossed into the portal…thing, and next thing I know, I'm waking up in front of you," I finished explaining. The team of odd misfits seemed to contemplate this new information I gave them for a while, then Agent Romanoff spoke again.

"Is there anything else you remember, anything that happened within the portal, maybe?" she asked, somewhat desperately. I racked my brain pensively, then my eyes widened. Would that dream count…? The others seemed to notice this, and Tony stepped beside the red-head.

"What is it?"

"It's just…there was this weird…dream I had before I woke up in here," I started slowly, unsure. The others gave me looks as to continue. "I was floating through this black space, when I felt this really cold wind and I saw this pair of big green eyes that seemed to glare at me." All of them seemed to recognize the description.

"Loki!" they all shouted in unison, to all of our surprise.

Loki…as in…God of Mischief….Of course. Just great. Thor glanced at me, then at the others, now forming a semi-huddle.

"Loki may not have intentionally rerouted his army, but maybe he knows about her arrival and maybe something in his magic may have caused her to come here!" Steve nodded in agreement.

"Even someone like Loki couldn't have known the powers of the Cube, something in that weird magic relic could have offset his original plan," he added gravely. We all stood and sat in momentary silence before I chuckled and facepalmed, causing a few of them to give me wary looks.

"I'm so rude! I completely forgot to introduce myself after I knew all of your names!" I explained to them, feeling embarrassed by my lack of etiquette, which felt odd enough in this situation. "I'm Tori Matthews, in a weird way, it's nice to have met you all, instead of that Loki person you're all talkin' about." Standing up for the first time, I shook all of their hands _(Thor wanted to kiss my hand to which I blushed at). _

"It's nice to meet you too, officially, Tori," Tony replied finally, being the last to shake hands. Before I turned away, he caught my attention and gestured to the circle of light in his chest. "Oh and, this isn't a LED light. It's a miniaturized arc reactor, it powers a kind of electro magnet and it keeps shrapnel from entering my heart." My eyes widened in awe. "I built it myself." He then pointed to a closet which deployed a red and gold armor that attached itself to him, to my ever growing surprise. "Oh yeah, and it also powers this, which I built. It's kinda why they call me Iron Man."

I blinked, hazel eyes wide with childish wonder and ever-increasing awe. "Sweet."

* * *

Loki gazed into the Tesseract and closed his eyes momentarily. He hummed with interest and then turned back to his scrambling mind-controlled underground force, all still analyzing the portal generator.

"Tori Matthews, is it? Well then. Time to learn up about this new adjustment," he purred to himself, stalking through his hideout, into the shadows.

* * *

**Whew! Long chapter huh? I didn't know how to end it, so it just kept going, then I realized I still had to introduce "myself" so I just added that in there! XD heheheh**

**yup, that's "me", Tori Matthews. Formally, Victoria Matthews. I just liked the sound of Tori better! :D For the last name I just picked one from one of the characters I'm currently working on. This gave me a bit of grief coming up with, but now I've got a name for "me"! XD**

**So yeah, kinda had a bit of a breakdown, but who to relate but Cap! :D And Loki was spying via the staff and Tesseract, being a staaaalllkkkerr! teehee! **

**I hope I'm getting better at writing all of them in a room together (still can't get Hawkeye in there darnit!) but if anyone has suggestions, please review or PM me, I'd be very grateful! **

**Tony: All of you, leave reviews so we can get some action around here! I'm getting bored...**

**_Me: OAO?! But but but come on it's not that boring...is it? *sniffles*_  
**

**Steve: Tony look what you did, you're gonna make her cry!**

**Tony: I didn't do anything Rogers, it's not my fault she's getting writer's block.**

**Bruce: But Tony I think the point of having us here is to help alleviate that block. **

_**Me: *tearfully nods* Bruce understands!**_

**Thor: Friends, pray tell what this block of writers is? If it is a problem, can I smash it with Mjolnir?**

**Steve, Bruce, and_ Me_: If only it were that easy...**

_**Please leave a review, those who do will be mentioned and will get to ask my muses whatever they want!**_

**Tony, Bruce, Steve, Thor, Natasha, Clint, Loki: WHAAAATTTTT?!**

_**Me: Teeeheee! XD**_

**~DMRA out!**


	5. Incoming Call

**Hey everybody, time for an update! I finished writing chapter 5 this morning before work, but didn't get a chance to post so now tada!**

**Posting whilst eating Panera. Like a BOSS. XD **

**Little disconcerted but hey I'm getting reviews! This'll be the last chapter of the week and probs for a while since I'll be going to Hilton Head starting tomorrow and I won't be getting back till next Saturday evening, so you guys will just have to give me gifts of many reviews so I can continue writing my heart out when I get back!**

**Review replies for Chapter Four:**

**Avengerlicious: _Thanks muchly for the tip, now it's changed! Thanks so very much for reviewing, if you wanna ask my muses anything you have freedom to!_**

**AglonAuthor: _Thanks a lot for saying so, it means a lot to me to hear that! :D yeah I try to keep away from the fangirl thing cuz I broke harlem with it before. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing and if you want to ask my muses anything you are free to do so!_**

**Disclaimer Time!**

**Hey Tony, do I own the Avengers or Marvel Cinematic Universe, by any chance whatsoever?**

**Tony: *without looking up* not a damn thing. **

**Thought not...but I do own Tori, right?**

**Tony: Hell yeah, now get on with the story!**

* * *

_**Avenger'd**_

_**Chapter Five**_

After getting to know the group of people _(Tony called them The Avengers, a team of badass heroes), _right, the Avengers, I began to relax just the slightest bit.

They seemed to be pleasant people to be with, generally speaking. Steve and Dr. Banner were kind enough to me from the start, Tony was some kind of genius and hilariously funny, which really got me going, and Thor, well, all around he just piqued my interest.

Agent Romanoff _("Her actual name's Natasha, if you wanted to know.")_ was a bit standoffish at first, but was gentle in conversation to me, and combatted Tony in wit. And Agent Barton _(apparently his codename was Hawkeye, huh.) _kept quiet, but I had just gotten him to show me his arrows.

"Whoa~" I marveled as he pointed out his explosive and hacking arrows. "These are amazing!" I caught a prideful smile grow on his face as he scratched the back of his neck, and I grinned widely in response. "Your bow is really cool too! Is it true that you can shoot from really far away and even without looking?" A light pink hue glossed his cheeks as he nodded. "That's really awesome; I can't use a bow and arrow to save my life, honestly!"

Tony chuckled as he sipped amber colored alcohol from a glass. "Well, Legolass, looks like you've got a fan too!" A childish pouting look appeared on the archer's face.

"Shut it, Stark, when she said that the arc reactor was the coolest piece of tech you practically squealed like a kid!" Barton chided, smiling slightly still. Banner, Rogers and I chuckled, as it was true.

All of a sudden there was a loud ringing and a holographic screen appeared in front of Tony.

"Sir, Director Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. is on the line," a crisp British voice sounded from midair. "He is urgently requesting to speak with you." I then suddenly turned into what I would call a hyperactive ninja.

"What the heck was that?!" I asked, trying to hide the shock in my voice, crouching low. Tony laughed for a minute and then waved his hand at me to tell me to pay no mind.

"That's just my artificial intelligent butler JARVIS," he explained to me with a smirk, my face heating up in embarrassment, while simultaneously eyes widening in the constantly ever growing awe. Stark really was some kinda genius…

Steve patted me on the shoulder as I stood, giving me a look that said _It happens all the time_.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Miss Matthews," JARVIS replied politely. "Now, please sir, Director Fury is insistent and I do wish that you would not let him override my protocols again."

Tony scoffed, and then shifted his weight uncomfortably. "Alright JARVIS," he muttered. He turned and addressed me. "All of you, make sure Tori isn't seen yet, I don't want Fury up our backs on this one." I took initiative and sat behind the couch, and Thor and Bruce stood around me to, ah, nonchalantly block my image. Clint winked at me before commenting to Tony about how that was common knowledge.

"Don't worry kid, we've got this," he then whispered to me, right as a transmission beeped. I closed my eyes, childishly believing it would help lower my visibility.

"What the hell is going on up there, Stark?" I heard a commanding voice, presumably African American from the tone and fluctuation. "Do you know how pressing it is when you and your team fly off, and then leave no answer after knowing that Loki was about to wreak havoc in Manhattan?"

"Whoa whoa whoa, calm your eye patch there Pirate, everything's good here," Tony held with vitriolic humor. "No need to get your bulletproof panties in a twist." I tried as hard as I could not to laugh, knowing this was a serious situation.

"Cut the crap, what is going on over there, Loki couldn't have just up and left?!" Fury barked, evidently pissed. Tony made a sound that would accompany shrugging.

"I dunno how to answer that one, Nickie, cuz Reindeer Games kinda just did do that."

Reindeer Games? …like…Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer? Either this Loki person has a red nose or antlers…both of which made me chuckle internally to imagine.

"Romanoff!" Fury called, snapping me out of my daydreaming, and back to reality. "Is this true?" Agent Roman- I mean- Natasha, who was diagonally of me behind the couch nodded and headed next to Tony, beyond my range of sight _(but I still had my eyes closed, doi Tori…). _

"Affirmative sir," she replied coolly. "When Barton, Rogers, and I arrived on the scene, the Tesseract portal was open, but nothing came out of it to attack." She relayed that information almost robotically, I wondered if she was even batting an eye. That wasn't the truth, but then again, she wasn't lying either. I certainly didn't attack them. "It started to shift and implode, but before it could, Loki shut it down, took Selvig and left the scene. We haven't seen him since," Natasha finished, when Tony stepped in front of her. Fury hummed contemplatively.

"Fine then, I want you all to report back to the Helicarrier-"

"Ah, actually, Nick, I ah thought that it would be better and more efficient if we stay in the Tower," the billionaire interrupted.

"And why do you say that, Stark? The Helicarrier is more than apt to track Loki and it has all of the systems you used to track the Cube."

I could tell by the tones of their voices that some kind of verbal competition was gonna go down. Ooh…

"Well Fury, we know that Loki needs an energy source to power the Cube right? And he's got one right here, probably one of the best and most iconic, if I do pride myself on saying so, which I do, and last time, we were too late in stopping the portal. Since we know he has to come back here to start it up, staying here is our best option," Tony answered with a verbal smirk, probably to match a physical one. "Besides, I have more than enough room to house all of our motley crew for a while until Rock of Ages rears his shiny antlered head."

It was quiet for a while, save for a stressed sigh which I surmised came from Fury.

"Alright," he said finally. "But keep me informed. Anything comes up and you check in, clear?"

Tony sniffed and I presumed that he gave a wide grin.

"Crystal."

With that, the transmission cut off, and I sighed, relieved. I opened my eyes to see Thor extending his hand to me. I took it with a smile and let out a groan as he helped me on my feet, happy I didn't have to sit any longer. I leaned on the couch as Tony took another sip from his drink.

"Who was that Fury guy?" I asked curiously.

"Secret spy leader with an eyepatch," Tony jibed before anyone else could answer. "He's got a thing for being secret and manipulative in his spare time, but I guess that comes with the territory." Bruce crossed his arms.

"You really have room for all of us?" he asked after another period of general quiet. Tony perked up at this and grinned.

"Of course I do, this is my Stark Tower, isn't it?" he answered, drawing us all in to show us a holographic map of the few floors that comprised the penthouse area. "Now down the hall here there are four bedrooms that lead to a men's and women's bathroom, complete with showers. And on the other side of the floor there are two more bedrooms. Right above there is the floor with Pepper's and my rooms. Outside of them there's a kitchen area and then there's the lab, and then there's this floor which has the bar, the couches, the scenic views and whatever else. Oh yeah, forgot to mention, over in this section, there's a gym and a swimming pool."

I stood with my mouth gaping, Steve handed Tony ten bucks out of the corner of my eye, Natasha nodded with a faint smile, and Barton and Bruce whistled.

"Most impressive for a Midgardian!" Thor commented, to Tony's delight.

"Glad you think so Point Break, built most of it myself."

I felt somewhat of a guilt tug inside my gut and I gave shy smile, but the edges of my mouth were creeping into a frown.

"Is it really OK? For me to stay here for who knows how long with all of you?"

All of the Avengers just smiled _(Duly noted, all of them)_ and Tony ruffled my hair.

"Sure, Tori. I got the room for ya, besides, where else are you gonna stay? Not Holiday Inn, that's for sure." I laughed and I felt my eyes well up with grateful tears.

"Thank you, all of you, for everything," I gushed suddenly feeling the urge to hug them all, to their surprise.

Hell, if it comes down to it, I was pretty damn lucky to fall in with the Avengers.

_You think so now, mortal, but just wait…_

I stiffened and turned around as Tony was trying to take Barton's quiver. What was that just then?

* * *

**So...yeah, not much Loki in this chapter, I tried to focus it more on the Avengers, brought in Fury, yup yup. We're all gonna stay at Stark Tower YAAY!**

**Tony: I have to fix it though, as you so forgot to mention!**

_**Me: oh yeah that's right that one window's broken from when Loki tossed you out! ^^ just be glad it wasn't when Hulk smashed Loki on your floor...**_

**Tony: shh that won't happen in this story will it?**

_**Me: Ohh I dunnooo~**_

_*****_**Tony flies off in armor to protect his Tower***

**Well I finally got Hawkeye in there a bit!**

**Clint: yeah! *high fives me***

**Loki: but you cut out the part you had for me...*sulks in corner***

_**Me: heyyy come on you're more prominent next chapter, I promise!**_

**Loki: ...fine *disapoofs***

**Sorry for bashing Fury a little, I couldn't help myself. I have a feeling that Natasha would have at least tried to defend him after or before the transmission but oh the heck well. **

**So yeah, same dealeo, but with an extra twist! **

**Those who review while I'm away will be mentioned, ask of my muses anything they want (Tony, Bruce, Steve, Thor, Natasha, Clint, Loki, Fury: HEEEYYYY!) get a warm toasty internet cookie of awesomeness, AND possibly get to cameo if they so desire. No promises, but definitely a possibility.**

**REVIEW! REVIEWS ARE LOVE! AND VERY AWESOME TO LOOK FORWARD TO!**

**~DarkMousyRulezAll, signing out!**


	6. Plans and Pianos

**Heya everybody, time for an update after a lonnng period of time! (not as long as I'm waiting for some of my other stories, butt I shouldn't get into that XD) **

**This week I'm working as well as taking a Math SAT prep class at my Middle School and trying to do AP English 11 homework that's due August 5th. Yup. So, I was trying to hurry and finish this so I could get going on my other stuff. **

**I was a bit disappointed just a bit that only three people reviewed from Chapter Five, all of which on the first day it was posted (Which I guess is good, but eh I dunno I was expecting...at least one person to review over last week...*shrug*) but oh well. Thanks very much to those of you who did review!**

**Review replies from Chapter Five:**

**AglonAuthor: _haha you'll see what's up, and yes that is Loki! And if you want to cameo, you can, just ask me how, when, where, why, etc. What kind of cameo, like if you want to be a SI employee or a person working for Loki or just a person mentioned whatever floats your boat. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing, it means a lot!_**

**Avengerlicious: _hahaaha nooo I didn't make up "disapoofs" I wish I did. It's a made up word anyway, so meh. :D It's fun to use! Thanks for reading and reviewing!_**

**Guest who reviewed on 6/14/13: _Loki. Loki happened in her head. XD Writing more, got it!~ Oooh first question! YAY!_**

_**Guest's question, for Cap: If you have one wish, any wish, what would it be?**_

**Steve: Hmm...that's tough...but I think, it would have to be...to give Peggy that one dance that I promised her before I went into the ice.**

**And all of the reviewers get a warm toasty internet cookie of AWESOMENESS! WOO! *sends cookies* **

_**Disclaimer!**_

_**I don't own the Avengers, nope, but I do own Tori since she is part of ME AAAHAHAHAAA!**_

* * *

_**Avenger'd**_

_**Chapter Six**_

Loki smiled in a mocking way to himself, sitting in the shadows. That foolish mortal girl thought herself safe from harm among those people? Lucky, even? The god of mischief found this very amusing. He gripped his staff tightly and focused in on the girl's thoughts.

"You think so now, mortal, but just wait…" he baited in her mind as he felt her worry ease for a moment. Almost as a reply he could sense her stiffening to his voice, as if it was a ghost, and he grinned. So it had worked…Loki glanced down at his staff, now glowing brightly, and mused. The girl Matthews had somehow connected with the power of the Tesseract at some moment, whether it had been a misfire of the energy or some small detail that had been overlooked. And because of that brief synchronization she fell through the portal from her realm instead of the Chitauri from theirs.

And so, Loki surmised, with the power he had been given that draws its source from the Tesseract, he could harness that connection when focused. To what extent however, he did not know. He stood up from his sedentary position and walked out towards the dim lights of the catacombs, and then he approached the artifact, and gazed at it pensively. Ooh yes, this would be interesting, very interesting indeed…

* * *

To say that Tony Stark was a genius would be an understatement, as well as to say he was rich, and to say that he was awesome would also most definitely be a major understatement. I nearly fainted when he gave us the tour of where we would be staying _(not the same at ALL as a hologram, duly noted). _Stark just laughed at all of our reactions and said that we were free to make ourselves at home.

"Why have four floors of penthouse if no one's going to use it?" he said, nonchalantly waving his hands. Clint (Agent Barton's first name, as I picked up) smiled widely, before toning it down to a smirk after Tony grinned at him.

"Well, Stark, you got me impressed," Clint muttered simply. Tony's smile widened as his eyes flashed with an idea.

"How about we all do some exploring around?" he suggested with a daring look in his eye. Natasha gave him a deadpan stare.

"This is _your_ tower, how would we be exploring?"

Tony sniffed before shrugging. "I may have helped built most of it, but as my tower is new and I only really did the heavy lifting and financing and ordering and tech syncing, I never really got to tour around much of it besides the times I spent with Pep," he admitted. "So I think it'd be a pretty sweet time to see which one of us finds the coolest stuff, and if any of us gets lost, JARVIS is through the mainframe of the whole Tower, and he can lead us back up to the top. You all game?"

There were a few minutes of thoughtful silence before Bruce's face had gained a curious smile.

"Sure, why not?" he agreed, and after he said, we all nodded, smiling in accordance.

That second, Clint looked up and jumped straight in that direction, surprising me, but not really anyone else; until I realized that he had leaped into the overhead vent. Tony chuckled.

"I wondered how long he'd wait to do that," he mused with a toothy smile. "Well then, we should follow in Hawkeye's leap steps and get going!" With that, Tony ran to the nearest elevator, followed quickly behind by Natasha who beat him to the front, causing him to turn the corner to the next elevator. Bruce smiled contentedly and made his way in the direction Tony said was the lab. Thor bounded out of the room with Mjolnir in front of him like a tether. Steve looked back at me, since I was a bit too slow in the reaction of everyone's departure.

"You wanna explore with me?" he asked kindly, his blue eyes twinkling at mine. "This place is a bit large, and what fun is it going around alone?" I nodded in response and smiled.

"Sure, I'd love to!"

Steve smiled broadly at me and then thought for a moment.

"Any place you'd want to find?" he inquired. I contemplated this for a moment, then I remembered what Tony said about JARVIS being everywhere. I looked around, a shy smile on my face.

"Hey…ah…JARVIS?" I called out hesitantly.

"Yes Miss Matthews, what is it?" the AI responded within seconds. I took a breath and glanced to Steve.

"Are there any rooms in the Tower with a piano, by any chance?" I asked the artificial butler which caused the red-white-and-blue clad man to raise his eyebrow at me with a curious smirk.

"As a matter of fact, there is one. Would you like me to lead you and Captain Rogers there?"

I nodded as I felt a lightness of joy course through my veins. "Yes, please." Why play without an audience?

"Right this way."

A holographic screen of a map appeared in front of me that had directions to the room which held the piano. I looked up at Steve.

"Come on!" I urged with an excited smile. "I want to play something for you." The Captain smiled and gave a shrug, before walking beside me towards the destination.

We reached a door which opened to a small music room, only called that because of the piano, though. It had a wide window that looked out to the city and the instrument was in the center of the room, next to a violin case and a cello. Surrounding the instruments were a few rows of benches. I gaped at the marvelous grand piano, mouth dragging to the floor. The instrument was carved out of a sleek cherry wood, and trimmed with gold leafing around the edges of the seat and lid. I walked up to the large piano and slid my fingers over the smooth surface. The instrument looked untouched and I almost seemed scared to open the lid. Captain Rogers sat down on the closest bench and gestured at me. I smiled nervously and took a shaky breath.

This had seemed a lot less pressuring in my mind. What if I screwed up? What if he thought I sucked? Shaking my head, I made up my mind. I sat down on the piano seat gently and lifted the ornate lid to reveal the ebony and ivory keys. I turned around to Steve.

"Do you mind classical music? I'm not so good with modern pieces…" I rambled in a low voice. He gave a small shake of the head and smiled.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Ah…some Mozart. Sonata in D major. It's for two pianos but I-"

"That'll be great. Just play what you feel," he said softly.

I felt my face heat up and I nodded. I gingerly placed my fingers on the keys, took a breath, and began my piece.

* * *

Clint was comfortably crawling in the rafters when he suddenly heard and felt the sound and vibrations of music. _Music._ Now who would be playing, he wondered. It sounded beautiful. He crawled swiftly towards the source of the sound and perched over the vent opening above the room and allowed his eyes to close in pleasure to the soft tune.

* * *

Thor and Natasha both ended up in the gym, the Widow before the god, of course. Once Thor arrived there, though, he immediately challenged the female to a match of strengths, to which the assassin accepted with a vitriolic smirk. After Thor bested Natasha at lifting but she aced him in agility, he decided to challenge her in the boxing ring, although she insisted he not use his hammer. Thor scowled, but then agreed, since his hammer could knock the super spy through the roof.

After they had started, however, Natasha perked her ears at the sound of a tune that she recognized and dodged Thor's blows repeatedly. The god was miffed at her distraction.

"Why do you not spar me with your full attention, friend?"

"Shh! Listen!" she scolded in a whisper, to which Thor extended his ear and too heard the music. Quietly as possible, they eventually made their way to the music room and silently listened outside.

* * *

Bruce and with him Tony, as the genius wanted to go to the lab anyway, were tinkering with ALL of Tony's different scientific toys, to which led the billionaire genius playboy philanthropist to rattle off on the different kinds of hydraulic engines he had built when he was younger. All of a sudden the battered gamma scientist felt calm for the first time in a while as his ears picked up a faint but melancholically beautiful melody, in place of Tony's rantings.

"Is that…Moonlight Sonata?" Banner muttered aloud, interrupting his friend. Tony gave him an odd look.

"Beethoven? What are you talking about?" Tony asked Bruce, and he put his finger to his lips in response. Tony pouted but shut his mouth all the same. It was then he heard the music as well. "Huh," he breathed after a few seconds of quiet and the sound.

"I wonder who's playing…" Bruce thought verbally, and Tony nodded contemplatively.

"Hey JARVIS?"

"Yes, sir."

"Who's that on the piano? That's a piano isn't it?" Tony asked, hand resting on his chin in thought.

"Yes sir, and it is Miss Matthews playing, I believe Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata in C# minor," the AI replied. Bruce's mouth twitched in a smile and Tony's soon followed.

"Well then," Tony said. "Let's go pay Tori's concert a visit, Brucie!"

Bruce shook his head with a smile as they exited the lab and headed for the music room.

* * *

I gave a deep sigh as I finished the piece, my fingers starting to get a bit twitchy from playing. I turned around to Steve and he was smiling contentedly at me, silently applauding in case I was to play another song.

"That's okay, I'm done," I stated, causing his claps to become audible, making the red on my face go much deeper. He stood up from the bench and walked over to me.

"That was amazing, Tori. Thank you," Steve praised and I instantly looked down at my feet, finding the floor very very interesting.

"It was nothing, really. I took piano lessons for a while and I learned a lot of classical pieces so really this is just helping me practice, really it's nothing but I'm glad you liked it," I ranted in a low whisper.

All of a sudden I heard a loud booming from above me and then Clint fell down through the air on top of a bench, surprising me and Steve.

"If this is practice I can't imagine what a serious concert would be," he commented, making me really wish I had something to cover my stop-light face.

"I agree with Clint, that was pretty superb. I could hear you playing from the gym."

I turned around to see Natasha and almost did a double take. How long had she been there?! And how did I _not _notice?! _(Super spy, doi Tori, she could probably have climbed the walls or something.)_

"Yes, Lady Natasha has a most agreeable point! If not for her, I would not have heard your masterpiece!" Thor thundered, coming in from the door. "You should play your marvelous music in Asgard!"

"M-masterpiece?" I could only stutter. Honestly, I wasn't really that good, in my opinion. No better than the thousands of other kids at my school who could play the piano the same way and better, but I mean I _had_ been practicing after work… and trying to add effects of my own while playing, but that's only because I'd been playing those for a long time!

Had all of the Avengers had been listening the whole time?

As to answer my mental question, Bruce and Tony walked in, as if on cue.

"Astounding, you're just full of surprises," Tony joked at me. "Maybe you and Coulson could have-" All of a sudden, his eyes went wide and he took a brief glance at the cello next to the piano. Steve, Natasha, and Clint seemed to reciprocate this manner and if I wasn't mistaken, all of them became just the slightest bit somber. Tony for a brief moment looked like he was going to throttle someone or something, fluids slightly twinkling in his chocolate brown eyes. He coughed shortly. "-played together. Well now that we're all here and not eavesdropping, would you mind playing one last song?"

I noticed this topic change and the others seemed to have as well. Steve smiled at me.

"You don't have to if you don't want to, you sounded great before," he consoled, but I shook my head. I sat back down on the bench and turned my head to the others, now taking seats on the benches.

"What would you all like?" I asked with a shy smile. Tony and the others exchanged glances.

"Make it a surprise."

And so the Avengers all listened quietly and contentedly as I played my finale.

* * *

**Hope you all enjoyed this fairly long chappie! **

**The songs, in order were Mozart's Sonata in D Major for Two Pianos, Mozart's Sonata K545, and Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. The last one I was kinda just leaving up to the imagination.**

**COULSONNNNN I know he's alive but they don't know that yet and this kinda exemplified my own feelings before I knew! **

**Welp same stuff applies for reviews! Gotta go! PLEASE REVIEW!**

**~DarkMousyRulezAll, signing out!**


	7. Pizza Can Induce Nightmares

**Woooo update time for Avenger'd! This is my longest chapter of this fanfic yet! I'm so proud, it took me forever to write this! ...although I do have homework that is due August 5th so I should do that...OKAY I will continue on that AFTER I have this posted! :D**

**Thanks to all of you who have been reading and reviewing, you guys are the reason this thing is still going as fast as it is!**

**Tony: It's also because she loves this story and because she's been on a MCU high and watched the Avengers, Thor, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3 (trailers and interviews after the movie, since sadly it's no longer in theaters in this area) and Captain America, as well as indulging herself in the comics she can find off of her Second-Screen Avengers App. All in the course of last month and the end of May. Yeah.**

_**Me: shhhh now I sound like I have no life! **_

**Tony: technically speaking, if you have us muses in your head than you kinda are lacking a social life.**

_**Me: SSHHHHHH!**_

**Review replies from Chapter Six:**

**Ancient Wanderer: _AAAAGGHHHH FLATTERY I MUST HIDE MY FACE *as it lights up like a freakin red sun* t-Thank you for saying so I'm glad you like the story and thanks so much for reviewing, it means a lot. _**

**Arabelle (Belle/Liberty Bell): _Hey, thanks, it's nice to meet you. Hahaha I understand the situation, my friends do that as well. Yeah, i dunno, I just have a thing for instrumental music and I had heard the Sonata for two pianos from Ouran High School Host Club (a great show I totally recommend) and I fell in love. So I figured I'd play tribute. Ohhhh YAY another question!_**

_**Arabelle's question, for Thor: What is it about Jane Foster that intrigues you the most? **_

**Thor: I believe the most intriguing thing about Lady Jane is that she has such perseverance for a human and she continues to believe in me even though I have not returned to her as of yet. **

**Last but not least, Avengerlicious: _I'm really happy you're liking this story and I hope it continues to amuse you as the story goes on! Thanks so much for continuing to review!_**

**_YOU ALL GET YUMMY INTERNET COOKIES! _**

**Time for the disclaimer!**

**I don't own in any way shape or form any of the Avengers, back stories, or affiliations, or anything in the MCU. I do, however, own Tori Matthews as she is a projection of myself. I do not own the character of Parker who is AglonAuthor's cameo character. **

**AglonAuthor, this chappie is dedicated to you! **

* * *

_**Avenger'd**_

_**Chapter Seven**_

The end of my small "concert" was received with a standing ovation, and I blushed feverishly as I closed the lid and turned around to the applause.

"Thanks guys," I murmured, trying _(and failing) _to hide my scarlet-hued emotions. Tony, Steve, and Bruce all clapped me on the back in congratulations and a grin appeared on the billionaire's face.

"Hey, you know what goes great with other great things like this?" Tony asked with a manic twinkle in his eyes. We all cocked our heads, although curious smiles were on our faces in anticipation. "Pizza party!" Clint and I cheered, Bruce gave a firm "Yeah," Steve just smiled and nodded and Natasha did the same. Thor still had a confused look on his face.

"Man of Iron, what is this 'pizza' you speak of?" he asked, which caused most of us _(minus Steve, Natasha, and Bruce, duly noted)_ to scoff and gape.

"Never heard of pizza?!" Tony cried, to which Thor shook his head. "Well then, this is more needed than ever!" Tony burst the door open to the outside hallway and motioned for the rest of us to follow. "Come on, we can go back up to the top suite and order from there!"

So without wasting another minute we all raced to the top floor once again. Clint got there first as he went through the vents again, Natasha followed after, then Thor, Tony, Bruce, then Steve and I. When we all got in, Tony called JARVIS and asked him to page the front desk of Stark Tower.

A holographic screen appeared in front of him and Tony tapped his foot impatiently until the receiver clicked.

"Yes, Mr. Stark, what is it?" a female voice responded. Tony grinned like a Cheshire Cat.

"Hey Parker, me and my team up here are in desperate need of a pizza party," he started in a mockingly serious voice, similar to the one he used when I first woke up. "I need you to call the closest local pizza place that serves the best kinds and I want you to order a large pizza for every kind of topping, plus drinks, whatever desserts they serve, and breadsticks. Got that?" I almost laughed out loud at all that he could buy, flying by the seat of his pants. I heard a tired sigh on the other side of the line.

"Yes. Is that all, Mr. Stark?" the receptionist named Parker asked. Tony looked back at us, then to the screen.

"Yup, that should just do it. I'll have the money wired down to the desk when you get the bill."

"Alright boss, I'll call back up when I've got the order," she stated and the call ended. Tony turned back to us and gave a thumbs-up.

"Yeah-ha this is gonna be awesome!" he exclaimed which riled the rest of us up.

Pizza party in the awesome Stark Tower with the Avengers, heck yes!

* * *

Marie "Parker" Kiehof slumped on the desk in front of her, letting out a fairly audible groan. Out of all the things today, attending to superheroes and huge pizza parties were not the things she was expecting, or looking forward to doing. Although…the famous Captain America had been one of those heroes, and Parker remembered the huge buzz when the boss had mentioned that SHIELD had found the soldier in the ice, and she subconsciously clutched the Captain America trading card in her jacket pocket. She glanced at the phone next to the computer and sighed dejectedly.

Picking up the handheld, she pressed zero and waited until the operator picked up. "Yes, hello? I need a list of all local New York pizza parlors in the Manhattan area."

The operator rattled off a list of many different places and Parker dutifully wrote down each one. After hanging up, she took glances at all of the names. One caught her eye after a few minutes:_ Little Italy's Famous Pies._ Shrugging, she looked it up on Google and checked if the menu had all of what Mr. Stark had requested.

"Little Italy's, what can I do ya for?" a male, presumably older with a Brooklyn accent answered. Parker without hesitation read off Tony's order and she heard the man's breath hitch after a while. "Jeez lady, that's some goddamn expensive buyin' you're askin for," he commented. Parker smirked.

"This will all be delivered to Stark Tower, I'm ordering on behalf of my boss," she said coolly. She heard a shriek of excitement on the other line and grinned.

"Hurry up with this order Louie it's for Tony Stark! Yeah! Now move it!" she heard from the pizza guy. Although this was tedious, she did in fact enjoy the reactions. Never got old.

"Sir, the bill please?"

"Oh- uh, yeah yeah that'll be $[_censored_]"

Well damn, Parker thought after hanging up the phone and waiting for the order. The boss certainly had a damn good ton of money to throw around.

* * *

I laughed as Thor made an impression of what he called bilgesnipe _(big, scaly, with huge antlers, duly noted). _

"They are repulsive and rampage everything in their path!" Thor mimed with a playful smile as he ran around with his hands up to his head like antlers. Tony laughed and gave a somewhat coy look at Bruce who stared in confusion in response.

"What?" he dared Tony to say after seeing a look of almost childish excitement appear on his face. It quickly disappeared, replaced by a mask of nonchalance as Tony shrugged.

"Nothing, nothing, I just thought it'd be fun to see the Hulk go at it with a few of those bilgesnipe things," he offered, hiding a playful gleam in his eyes.

"Haha, I don't think so," Bruce deadpanned with a smirk. I glanced at Bruce with a confused look.

"Hulk?" I inquired. The scientist's smirk faded.

"An accident," he muttered in a low voice. I moved closer to him.

"What happened?" Bruce looked at me with weary dark eyes and rubbed his forehead as he removed his glasses.

"A while back I was doing research into gamma radiation at Culver University and how its effects could be used to heal soldiers," he started, eyes glazed over in his anecdote. "At least, that's what I was told starting out. The general who was running the research was interested in duplicating or finding a substitute for a super soldier serum used in World War II and he believed gamma waves were the key to finding the original formula." He took a glance at Steve and I followed his gaze, then looked back. "I got overexposed badly to the radiation and one explosion later, I had this green hulking Other Guy inside me who would come out and wreak havoc when my stress levels went beyond my control." He next took a glance at the genius billionaire. "Tony believes that I should have died from the accident, and that somehow, the Other Guy saved my life." Bruce shifted to Natasha, who gave him a firm but blank look in response. "For what, I don't know." There was an unusual quiet, even from Tony, and Bruce returned his gaze to the window. I stayed silent for a minute.

"Maybe…he saved you because he somehow knew you weren't like those guys who wanted the power of the super-soldier," I replied slowly and softly. "Maybe he did it because he knew you were good." Bruce locked eyes with me for a moment, not saying anything, but the look on his face said everything. After a while he gave a small smile and looked around at the team.

"Who knows…" he muttered quietly. His comment seemed to dissolve the tension in the room and the silence left as Tony started a conversation on something else, but my attention was lost. My interest was more hitched than ever, though in the group Tony called the Avengers.

Before, he had noted them as a group of badass superheroes _(not that I'm disagreeing…) _but it seemed like most of them had issues and were there by either accident or by happenstance. Bruce's 'hero' seemed to be an uncontrollable dilemma with little positive outlook, Steve, well, by the looks and actions of him he didn't seem to be quite comfortable in the situation, Tony was positively reeking of enigma, Thor…in the occasion he really was a god from Asgard, what drove him and Loki here? What would bring them to Earth, and why? As for Natasha and Clint, they appeared to just be thrown in the mix of misfits.

A ringing of the transmission broke my musing and Tony answered without any second thought.

"The order has arrived, boss," Parker the receptionist replied simply. Tony grinned, prompting the rest of us to brighten as well.

"Great, now if you could just bring it up and then you'll be done with this. Thanks," Tony finished, cutting off the call. He turned around and took out his small glass-like tablet. "JARVIS, initiate party sequence and deploy DUM-E Mark II for cleanup duty when we're done."

"Affirmative, sir," JARVIS replied, to which the lights dimmed just the slightest bit and black light was added to make the glow effect. Rock music _(AC/DC I guessed)_ could be heard turning on and playing in the background. A couple of minutes later, the elevator dinged and as the doors open, all that is able to be seen are pizza boxes.

"Your order Mr. Stark," a muffled voice stated from behind the boxes. Tony grinned. Steve jumped up and went over to the wall of pizza boxes and began taking them out. After the wall was breached and no more than 30 boxes of pizza were loaded out, the girl known as Parker was visible. She was carrying two other boxes _(I presumed the desserts and breadsticks) _and the floor was lined with 2 liter sodas.

"Let me take these for you ma'am," Steve offered, grabbing the drinks and gesturing to the boxes in her hands. Parker lit up like a stop-light and nodded, almost furiously.

"Thank you Captain America sir!" she exclaimed frantically. I glanced curiously at her and then at Steve. Captain America? Well…that would explain the red-white-and-blue…

Quickly the receptionist saluted the captain and descended back down in the elevator. Tony clapped his hands together and began laying out the boxes and plates and cups with help from Clint and Bruce. Thor gave a confused glance at the many boxes.

"Man of Iron you still have not shown to me what this pizza is!" the god protested, crossing his arms. The genius's grin lit up in the black light.

"Watch and enjoy, Point Break!" he laughed as he lifted the lids of the boxes. A delicious wave of pizza scent flooded the room and all of our mouths instinctively began to water. Thor's sharp blue eyes widened in amazement.

"All of this?" he gestured to the practically glowing food, not taking his eyes away. Tony nodded with a laugh.

"I've never seen this much pizza in all of my life," I awed, and Clint nodded beside me. "It's beautiful…"

"Who wants to take the first piece?" Tony asked, now holding a glass filled with soda from one of the 2-liters.

We all glanced at each other hungrily, although Natasha still looked unfazed and Bruce just looked amused. After a few minutes of us staring, Tony clapped me on the back.

"Why don't we let the maestro take the first?" he suggested, raising his eyebrows. The others smiled in response and cheered. I could feel my face heat up as the corners of my mouth tugged upwards. "Go on, pick whatever kind you want."

Slowly I made my way across the boxes and my eyes locked on the meat-lover's pizza. I looked back to Tony and he grinned. I reached over and picked up a piece and put it on a plate with a gesturing smile to the other Avengers. They all swarmed in to grab slices of their own, and with that our pizza party began.

* * *

What seemed like countless hours later, I found myself lying on the floor, stomach full with many kinds of different pizzas, all lurching around in my insides. With a groan, I got up to my knees and looked around with narrowed eyes.

Natasha, Tony, and Thor were all battling to see who could still eat without puking, Bruce was contentedly relaxing, having thrown in his competition plate, Steve was slowly working on eating, I'm guessing he had a seriously high metabolism, and Clint…well I couldn't see him so I surmised he was in the rafters.

How much food did I eat? I could hardly remember but I felt sick enough to constitute that I over ate by a ton. I stumbled upwards onto my feet and caught the attention of the gamma scientist. He caught my shoulder and I looked over quickly, regretting that action immediately because it made my head pound.

"You alright, Tori?" he questioned in a concerned voice. I took a breath.

"y-Yeah, just tired," I admitted, blinking slowly. He smirked.

"You've had one hell of a day I'd bet," he said softly, walking me over to the elevator. A broken chuckle escaped my lips.

"_I_ bet it's nothing compared to the day you've been having," I replied with a forced smile. Bruce didn't reply but he only shrugged. He pressed the button on the elevator and we went down to the floor of six bedrooms. I walked out and Bruce stayed in the elevator.

"You sure you'll be alright from here?" he asked. I nodded.

"Yeah I'll just crash in one of the two bedrooms on this side of the floor. I expect they'll be up for a while longer," I added. He chuckled in reply.

"I think you're right about that. Well, goodnight Tori."

"'Night Dr. Banner."

I made my way through the hall to two doors and subconsciously I turned to the room on the right. Without caring, my vision blackened and I hopped on the piece of comfortable furniture I knew as a bed. Instantly my eyelids shut and I was swept into unconsciousness.

* * *

In the pitch blackness of my subconscious I heard a slight chirping that I didn't recognize, but I knew to be a bird of some kind.

Slowly, a dark forest of tall trees was painted around me, silver patches of moonlight streaming through the dark green canopy. A smooth breeze flitted through the forest and caressed my skin. The chirping began again and as if in slow-motion the silver streams turned gold and the scenery brightened as the moon was replaced with the sun.

"_Hello, little human." _

I turned around sharply and couldn't see anyone present, or anything.

"Who's there?" I asked aloud, caution edging in my voice. No answer, delightful. I turned around in a circle again, the scenery shifting with my movements. I heard a high pitched laugh in the bird sounds.

"_You're trying too hard, girl. This is a dream, you won't find me by looking," _a silky voice taunted.

I frowned, but I closed my eyes _(dream eyes, I guess)_ and opened them again, and gasped. Hovering in front of my face was a small bird, slightly bigger than a dove, with brilliant green feathers and gold plumage with a gold feather "cowlick" on the top of its head. Once my jaw shut itself, I gave it a curious glance.

"Who are you?" I interrogated. The bird, somehow, gave an amused smile which gave a chill down my spine.

"_Just a little bird, wandering around," _it replied mysteriously. _"And this little bird has learned a lot." _My eyes narrowed.

"What kinds of things?"

"_Oh…anything and everything. Tell me, have you ever heard of the phrase 'a little bird told me'?" _I nodded slowly, barely moving my head. It gave a melodic chuckle. _"Well where do you think the little bird found out?" _I smirked at the green and gold bird.

"So you're equating yourself as the cause of an age-old aphorism?" I asked mockingly, although suspicions edging my mind like a fog.

"_You said so."_

My lip curled in annoyance. "What do you want?!" I yelled at it, to then a clap of thunder sounded through the dreamscape and I ducked down. The bird laughed.

"_It's not about me, dear human girl. We're in your dream," _it cooed, flying on top of my head, arching its head next to my ear. _"And I've seen and know your fears." _My eyes welled up in terror._ "So how about we have ourselves some fun?"_

Before I could answer, I felt a _whoosh_ and we were standing on top of a thousand mile high cliff. Above, clouds of ink black color were flashing with super-charged plasma and all luminance was drained from the space below us, save for a rushing torrent of obsidian water, churning and roaring with the intensity of the thunder rolling above.

My hazel irises widened in pure horror and I tried to look away, hot tears rolled down my cheeks. But instead of meeting a blank plateau behind, it was the mirror image of what was in front of me. The ground crumbled beneath me and I felt the gut-dropping lurch of losing ground and falling. My hands flailed helplessly and caught the small spire of rock that was formerly beneath me. The bird perched itself on top of my desperately clenched hands and looked over me amusedly.

"_Poor little human, helpless and scared. Tell me, Tori Matthews, how long will it take for you to wake up before your spine is shattered from the fall?" _I tried not to listen to its words but it was to no avail. My fingers were slipping and my heart was racing. _"You have also heard the myth that if you die in your dream, you die in reality?" _I shook my head desperately, saline liquid rapidly making its way down my red puffy face.

"Stop, please stop!" I choked, shaking with the force of my sobs.

The bird said nothing and my fingers were lost from their spot. My mind went blank as I stared in utter primal fear at the creature. My vocal cords started working again and I let out a piercing scream as I fell.

"Stop, STOP! Make it STOP!"

The scene went blank and I was lost in darkness.

"_Sweet dreams…mortal."_

* * *

**DUN DUN DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNN! HAHAHAHAHAAAAA!**

**Okay, for Bruce's little back story, I took stuff from the Incredble Hulk (2008) movie as well as the 'adjusted' Avengers backstory, and I used a lot of information from the Second-Screen Experience app I LOVE THAT THING! XD**

**I didn't know if I spelled 'bilgesnipe' right, as there's no real reference for that word. Ah well. **

**Reference for the nightmare comes from some personal experience as most of those fears are my own. Fear of falling from very high heights (which used to just be fear of heights), fear of total darkness, and of course slight fear and less slight detest of thunderstorms. You know the feeling you get when you wake up like you fell on your bed and you have that mini-heart attack? Yeah. **

**And If any of you have seen the new Les Mis and remember Javert's suicide...well..seeing that in theaters twice didn't really help...hearing that sickening crack...*shudders***

**Oh and why I censored the bill for the pizza, I felt if I showed it, many people (including me) would feel their hearts break into a million pieces. hahaha XD**

**Alright, now that that's over, you know what's coming! **

**Review, and you will be mentioned, and you all are free to ask questions of any of my muses and they will answer as best as possible! And you receive sweet delicious internet cookies!**

**REVIEW! **

**~DarkMousyRulezAll, signing out!**


	8. Threat of Thunder

**KONNICHEWA MINNA! :D How has your summers been? Good? Good! I've been stuck with AP English HW for the while and lifeguarding and aaahhh I just couldn't get around to updating this, but good news! all I gotta do is finish writing my three essays and turn them in on Monday and then I'll be DONE until school starts on the 22nd! So I can just write and play my heart out after that! Alright, I had A TON of reviews compared to the previous chappies I should get to them!**

**Review replies from chapter seven:**

**AglonAuthor: _Nope, that's all that's needed! Glad you liked it! Cookie for youuu!_**

**_Ooh boy..._Liberty Bell(Guest): _Long review indeed! HAHA wow, no I love this thank you! Wow, I'm glad you liked everything, from Parker, to the party! WOW MORE QUESTIONS YAY! Okay, first, you are, I dunno why I said everyone is free to ask, I guess no one besides you is up to it. Second, again, I love your reviews, hell it's a free country make em as long as you want. (I'll give you your cookie now! XD)_**

**_Third Question, to AglonAuthor's Parker: How long have you been a fan of Captain America? (...okay Parker will answer that after cuz this is getting long...)_**

**_Fourth Question, to Tony muse: Ooooooooh, I may not have a super-brain, but it's still capable of telling me that you've got some warm fuzzies for Tori. Is that true? OH, if it IS true, then what about Pepper? (...Also answering this after cuz there are more reviews)_**

**CrystalClear98: _Glad you're liking the story! Thanks for reviewing! Internet cookie! :D_**

**Avengerlicious: _*nod nod* tis true. And *shrug* there's no dictionary for bilgesnipe but yeah I think it's good. Thanks for reviewing! Cooookkkiiiiieee!_**

**dragonteehee1: _...whoa wow I think that made me die of a happiness coma. Jeez...all these people think I'm brilliant it's not good for my ego XD Thanks for reviewing! COOKIE FOR YOU!_**

**Last but not least, Obsidian the Ghost Faced, who was reviewing on chapters 3-7 today: _CRRRAAACKKK YES that was awful Javert why why? ^^ wow you really reviewed a lot today, thanks so much! It really means a lot and I'm glad you like the story! YOU GET AN AWESOMENESS INTERNET COOKIE WOO!_ **

**Woo now that that's done...DISCLAIMER TIME!**

**Oh hey look at that Thor 2 is coming out soon, do I own that?**

***lightning strikes me***

**nope...dun own that and I dun own the MCU...**

* * *

_**Avenger'd**_

_**Chapter Eight**_

In the few moments between unconsciousness and consciousness, I thought for a while that all that had transpired was part of a huge dream. The vortex, the Avengers, eye-patch wearing spy, super technological artificial intelligences and damn huge pizza parties: sounded like a dream to the old me. But what had Steve, the illustrious Captain America, said to me earlier?

Everything from that point on was real…he knew how I had felt. But that couldn't possibly have been, it was obviously a dream.

My false sense of reality was broken as I stirred to the sounds of the quaintly familiar British voice of JARVIS musing over the weather forecast for today. My eyebrows furrowed and slowly I worked on lifting my eyelids to see the blurry outline of the bedroom I had crashed in. My ears began to register the AI's words:

"It seems that a large storm front will be hitting this area this afternoon. I should inform Mr. Stark soon of the possibility of a shortage in the arc reactor in case lightning strikes."

Blearily, I replied, "Wouldn't he already know by now, since you're in the whole Tower?" I rubbed my eyes for a moment.

"That is true, Miss Matthews, but currently Mr. Stark is suffering from an extreme nausea due to over-consumption of greasy food and carbonated beverages," JARVIS said in almost a deadpan voice. "I do not believe he would take to the information in this state." I chuckled at this and my vision became clearer, then I promptly screeched.

I hadn't taken any notice the night before, being too tired and sick to care; moreover, it took me awhile to comprehend I was in a bedroom at all. As soon as my senses came to, I realized that this was the single greatest room I had ever slept in.

The bed itself was large and fluffy, and the room was lit with a golden hue _(most likely due to the enormous window, duly noted)_ and there were large adornments on the walls and hanging from the ceiling. And if I wasn't mistaken, there was also a large couch and coffee table sitting by the window. That was when I promptly leaned so far over that I fell off the bed and hit the floor with a _thud!_

"Owww…" I muttered, rubbing my shoulders as I stood, still looking around in bewilderment. "So, ah, JARVIS, where is everyone then?"

"Mr. Stark is semi-conscious in the lab, he's probably not gotten that much sleep, Dr. Banner is upstairs in the penthouse, reading, Agent Barton and Agent Romanoff are in the gym with Captain Rogers, and Thor is still asleep in the bedroom at the end of the hall. My log states that he retired only about three hours ago."

I flattened out my clothes and glanced down in rumination. I briefly wondered who the winner of the contest was. I assumed it to be Thor, considering, you know, him being a freaking god, but hey maybe Æsirs weren't adjusted to pizza? _'Adjusted'_ is a word which here means –able to eat foods which were not previously heard of without the body rejecting it in one of a few different ways. So, without any other thing to do besides gape at the room I had stumbled into, I slowly and quietly exited and made my way into the hall.

My mind swirled out of control. What was I going to do, now that I had already spent a day and it was obviously not a dream? What possibly could there be to do? Unconsciously, I thought of home, and if time had passed since I had been here. Would I be missed? Mourned? Searched for? Or would the universe just continue to roll on as if I were never there?

Should _I_ be the one searching for the door back home? Is it only something on _this_ side, so to speak? And why this universe out of all possible universes? Is it because of that Loki character and some artifact they were mentioning yesterday? And who's to say that this Loki person isn't gaining strength and getting stronger?

Who's to say that he's not sneaking in here now-

I suddenly bumped into a glass door, snapping me out of my thoughts and giving the bridge of my nose a very bad ache. I doubled backwards. Glass door-? Looking around I saw a sign that so obviously stated "The Lab: Do Not Enter unless you wish to potentially blow something up-" and the rest of it was Black Sharpie-d out. I'm guessing that there was some…other stuff on it. I rubbed my forehead in confusion.

How…exactly had I made it to Tony's lab from the guest bedrooms floor? Meh…most likely was wandering during my mental monologue…bleh. With a sigh and nothing else to attend to at the moment, I plodded into the laboratory.

"h-Hello? Tony, are you there?" I called out blearily. I walked down a small spiral staircase that led to a glass door.

I heard a muffled groan that I presumed originated from Tony, who was laying in what I thought looked like a very uncomfortable position on a chair in front of his work table.

"Hhnnn noooo Pep, I dun wanna clean the tables!" he grunted sluggishly as I walked in the room, his deep brown eyes closed in fatigue from the previous night. "Leafve me allloooonneee." The billionaire made a shooing motion with his right arm at me in a bovine manner, and I guess he was thinking of someone else _(a 'Pep' person, assuming Pepper as mentioned earlier the other day, duly noted)_. I clenched my fists and urged myself to move closer into earshot.

"Tony," I persisted, speaking just the slightest bit louder. His eyebrows knitted together in a feeble attempt to open his eyes.

"Hnnn," he mumbled, finally getting to peer out, his eyes faded and glassy. I waved awkwardly in an attempt to get his attention. "Huh…hey kid, sorry, thought you were someone else." He sat up in the swivel chair and rubbed his face with a yawn. "What are you doing down here?" I rubbed the back of my head, racking my brain for an answer.

"Well, ah, JARVIS said that you were asleep down here and I figured I'd come down and check out your lab in the meanwhile and see what other kinds of cool stuff you built," I half-lied, smiling innocently.

The first part was true, I guess but really, I had just kinda wandered here. Tony didn't seem to notice, however; his eyes lit up in amusement and he sprang up from his chair.

"Oho cool stuff indeed miss maestro, wait till you see my latest design in Repulsor Technology!" he practically squealed like a kid at Show-and-Tell. I laughed as Tony grabbed my hand and led me to a blown-up section of the lab where a metal glove-like contraption was in its center. My eyes widened at the sight of it.

"What's…that?" I asked, referring to the object in the blackened center. Tony grinned.

"Oh that's just an independently accessible gauntlet for the Iron Man armor. Just an upgrade of my current Mark VII, but what it does is infinitely more awesome," he explained with a toothy smile. He quickly ran back to his desk and grabbed something I couldn't see and returned within the constraints of a minute. "Hold out your right arm," he instructed, and warily, but excitedly, I did so. In his hand, he produced a metal wrist band.

"What's that?"

"Just a wrist sensor imbued with a microchip," he replied, placing it on my wrist. "The gauntlet will recognize the chip and attach to your hand."

I oohed and turned my hand around to observe the wrist band. "How does it work?"

"Hold your arm out like so." He showed me his pose, left arm in a right angle clutching the right arm out in a shooting position. "JARVIS, deploy Mark VIII gauntlet piece."

"Right away, sir," the AI responded.

I looked to the billionaire with a questioning glance, before the gauntlet rose up from the burnt floor and shot towards my arm. I instinctively flinched and shut my eyes, wrenching my eyebrows together. I felt a slight tugging and a cool sensation of metal on skin. Hesitantly, I opened my eyes to find a red and gold metal glove attached to my hand and my face brightened with adrenaline.

"Wow!" I gushed, laughing with pure exhilaration. "This…this is pretty cool!" Tony grinned in reciprocation.

"The repulsor thruster in this gauntlet is designed to power itself for a short period of time and this explosion was made testing the firepower of what it can dish out without the main chest piece."

My hazel eyes met his warm brown and they both echoed the same thing: _I think there's more to be tested and blown-up!_

"Care to give it a whirl, maestro?"

"Why not? Might as well to help with this project of yours!" I replied eagerly, as Tony brought up a holoscreen.

"Initiating 20% efficiency blast, get ready Tori, 3…2…1…"

A surge of energy rose up from the gauntlet and a literal sphere of energy erupted from the tips of the fingers and shot from the palm and hit the wall on the other side, causing the floor to rumble. A wide grin spread on my face. This was _definitely_ awesome.

_A few hours and a LOT of explosions later…_

Many parts of the lab now were scorched and black, and Tony and I were positively psyched at how much fun that was. The gauntlet had run out of its separate power source, and the usually illuminated circle on the palm was now faded.

I turned my head to see the billionaire, hair wild and unruly from the backblast of one of the charges.

"You build this stuff for a _living_?" I asked.

"Yep," was all he said in reply, a winning smile to agree.

"Sweet."

Man, my old life really was lacking! How come none of the eccentric multi-billionaires of my world ever built repulsor technology?

_Because they are not like the Man of Iron. They are not as brilliantly genius or destructive._

My eyes widened in shock. That voice…again!

The glass door to the lab opened and none other than Dr. Banner walked in, a look of surprise adorning his face as his eyes met with the aftermath of Tony's and my experiments.

"Ah…am I interrupting something?" he asked with a smirk.

"Nope, perfect timing, actually Brucie," Tony remarked, allowing for the gauntlet to drop off of my hand while I rubbed my wrist.

"Hey Dr. Banner!" I greeted and waved, shaking the weird anomaly out of my mind. The gamma scientist smiled warmly at me. His face hardened suddenly as if he remembered something important.

"Tony, everyone's upstairs. Thor said he could feel Loki's magic not too long ago."

Tony's face hardened as well. "Well, looks like fun time is over then, maestro." I nodded in reply, taking off the wrist band and walking over to the door with Dr. Banner and Tony.

The three of us went upstairs to the penthouse and as Bruce had said, all of the other Avengers had gathered, all with solemn faces. My stature seemed to decrease as I followed behind; feeling like a…seventh wheel…was it?

Thor approached Tony, Mjolnir in hand. "My friend Tony, it was not but an hour ago that my brother's magic spiked in power. I fear if we leave him much longer then he will return with a stronger force on his own."

Tony nodded. "What do you suggest we do, Point Break?" It was Bruce that answered.

"I think that we can track the Cube and possibly even find Loki with it. I can run the same algorithm as on the Helicarrier and that'll be a start."

Clint and Natasha walked over to where we were congregated and Clint crossed his arms.

"Should we notify S.H.I.E.L.D. of another possible attack?" he asked, but his eyes said much more. I saw glimpses of guilt and shadow in his bright blues that made me wonder. Natasha nodded.

"We told Fury we'd keep him posted, and who knows, Loki may attack again if he knows we're not there."

Suddenly, a rumble was heard in the distance and I shirked away from the six Avengers. Oh god no…what was it that JARVIS said this morning?

"_It seems that a large storm front will be hitting this area this afternoon. I should inform Mr. Stark soon of the possibility of a shortage in the arc reactor in case lightning strikes."_

Thunder….storms….brilliant. The group of heroes were not fazed by this in the slightest. I peeked to the large window and my eyes widened. The sky was becoming very dark with storm clouds, dark as-

That dream…

I shuddered. No, no, no, come on, not like that not like that at all! A flash of pulsing light illuminated the dark sky, and a soft _"EEEP!" _was heard, right before a resounding boom of thunder followed. Another mouse-like squeak was heard following the thunder. This caught the attention of Tony, who turned around to see me, hiding under a table next to the bar. He smirked at me.

"What's the matter, kid, scared of some lightning?" he asked jokingly.

"y-Yeah, really don't like it," I muttered wildly with a shaky chuckle. "I'm not terribly fond of what follows either." Another large burst of light pierced the sky and I caught the downright shocked looks on Natasha, Steve, and Tony's faces as I trembled in the wake of the resonating sound wave.

_Interesting choice of words, mortal, _the ghostly whisper echoed in my mind. I gulped. Something was obviously wrong with what I said, and I did not like the looks of concern that the Avengers were giving me.

Nor did I like the thunderstorm, but hey, that didn't get any better at all. It actually got worse, pouring down rain to match the light and sound.

Oh joy.

* * *

**A/N: -Repulsor Technology (RT) is the technical term for the arc reactor tech. Learned that from reading the Iron Man 3 magazine ^^ I'm just kinda hinting towards that a bit XD haha**

**-And no, we didn't find out who won the contest, I forgot to ask. And Tony's calling Tori 'maestro' as a nickname because of the events of chapter 6. Figured I'd stick with that motif for a while.**

**-And I also have been reindulging myself in ASOUE so I did the whole 'a word which here means' thing XD **

**-Not a lot of Loki again, I know but I'm working on it! Okay, time to answer those questions Liberty Bell so generously asked...**

**Q3: "Well…four years actually. I was sixteen. My brother was a bigger fan first.  
He had all of the cards (vintage. Very proud.) He went out and served our  
country, leaving his cards with me as a reminder of what he was doing. He  
actually met Mr. Stark while serving. He was in the military vehicle that was  
ambushed in 2009 when Mr. Stark was taken hostage. He was killed and the cards  
were left with me. That is why I decided to work for SI and I've been a fan  
ever since I was given the cards" - Parker  
**

**Q4: *Tony sputters incomprehensibly* Tony: WHOA HELL GODDAMN FGHEDVNSDJVS She's a cute kid, a KID for crying out loud, I like her yeah because she's fun and awesome and she can play a mean Midnight Escapade-**

_**Me: TONNYYY YOU WERE supposed to keep the last song a secret!**_

**Tony: -But in all honesty, DMRA is a Pepperony shipper, so, Pep and I are still going out. *shudders* Tori is what 16? Way too young anyway. So to answer, yeah, warm fuzzies but not _THOSE_ kinds of warm fuzzies. Think of it...hmm what do I think of it? Maybe fatherly, or no...huh...I dunno. I guess I think it's adorable as hell that she loves the geeky side of me.**

**Okkaayy now that that's done, the usual, read, review, love! :D You guys can ask me or my muses anything you want! REALLY, ANYONE. Come on people, join good ol Liberty Bell in the askin pool! XD**

**Maybe I should tempt with something better than cookies...? OOHH**

**Chocolate and peanut-butter covered pretzels. YES. Those are like freaking addicting. **

**~DarkMousyRulezAll, signing out!**


	9. Suspicions and Storms, and a Blue Glow

**Hey everybody! I've finally updated on this! :D hahahaha I'm sooo happy I'm done with my summer homework, but sadly, I don't have that much of a vacation left :( my school is back on the 22nd and that gives me with not that much time at all. So, I'm planning to do as much as I can till then! XD during my time of leave on this story I've written three Bones fics (As I've fallen even more madly in dorky love with John Francis Daley GOD THAT MAN) anyway...maybe I'll write an Avengers/Bones crossover? maybe? Eh...who knows...**

**So, yeah, I had a bit of a writer's block for what to do next but thankfully, a little blue gem glass pebble gave me the inspiration I needed XD So now I've made a fairly long chapter! **

**Oh yeah and the whole thing about pitying, that's from Boston Public, JFD's character says about being pitied and he threatened this girl who dumped him because he didn't want to be felt sorry for. AND HIS FACE AAHFHFAKGJSKGJSKFJS so...this is kinda a tribute, and I can relate honestly. **

**In this chapter is some Thor and Clint action because they need more spotlight XD next I'll probably focus on Natasha...i dunno.**

**Review Replies from Chapter Eight: **

**krikanalo- _thanks for saying so, and thanks a lot for taking the time to review. And no, I do not watch game grumps. _**

**dragonteehee1- _that's great you still love it and you're welcome for the cookie! XD that was my point, it'd be a bad ending if it didn't leave something to want! Thanks for the review!_**

**Arabelle/Liberty Bell (guest)- _Waaazzuuup! :D that's perfectly fine, you took the time to review anyway, which I greatly appreciate! Yup BigBrother!Tony XD I wish I had him as a real big brother *sob* no problem I love your reviews! Ohh and a question YAY! and yeah I wonder why people don't ask questions, and review to add to that. *is eating chocolate covered pretzels now* crud...oh well._**

**Cretha Loesing- ****_It may be disgusting_**** _t_****_o_ you _but it got you to review ;) huuuuhhhh? Glad you reviewed anyway, even if it wasn't anything to do with the story. interesting username by the way. Creative :D_**

**_Liberty Bell's question, for Clint- What do you think about having an ordinary teenage girl among Earth's Mightiest Heroes? Do you think she might be of any use to the team someday, or do you just enjoy her presence and want to help her get home?_**

**Clint: Well, as ordinary goes, she's pretty sweet, and if you put it like that, Tasha and I don't really have super powers, we're just wicked cool people with hyper-reflexes and awesome weapons. Honestly speaking though, she's still a kid and I wouldn't want to put her through the hell of being who we are, dealing with death and threats and publicity. But it goes without saying that I'd like to have her around. I wanna do as much as I can to help her though. **

**Alrighty then, time for the disclaimer!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the MCU, but I am an avid fan who really can't wait to see _Thor The Dark World _in October! Am I right guys? :D**

* * *

_**Avenger'd**_

_**Chapter Nine**_

Five more minutes into said thunderstorm felt like excruciating hours. I managed to drown out their voices in the rain but every so often they would look at me with a worried glance and it would send a shiver down my spine.

Of course it had to be during a thunderstorm. _Of course_. You know why? Because the universe_ hated_ my guts.

Or so that's what I had begun to think after the fifteen-minute mark had passed. Really how could people talk for _that long_? Well…they had stopped talking after the eleventh minute, and had just stared around, and then one by one, all began to look at me. _Non-stop_. _With this awful pitying look_.

I don't want to be pitied. Not by _anyone_. Not even during my most frightful hours when I'm curled up under a freaking table shivering and shrieking and jumping every time there's a damn flash or bolt of lightning and huge-ass crash of thunder, because hell, I'm 16 and I'm still afraid of it dammit. I can accept that, and I'll let others know so they can deal with it accordingly. But _pity_?

Nah. Especially not from my new superhero 'friends' whom I had begun to like a lot _(especially after the party and the shooting of the gauntlet, duly noted)._

I'd stopped looking back at the Avengers. I couldn't take it, Tony's and Bruce's brown eyes that just looked worried and apprehensive and Steve, oh god Steve, those baby blues of his just looked into my soul. Clint and Natasha thankfully, were out of my sight range but I could feel those super-spy scrutiny emeralds on me nonetheless.

I felt awful, and to my utmost horror, a few tears rolled down my cheeks, sending burning saline tracks down my face. I nuzzled my face in my knees, hoping to hide away from the rest of the world.

But it seemed like the rest of the world reached out to me. Or…a hand at least. I felt a strong, warm touch on my shoulder, and I could hear the table dragging across the floor as if it were being moved. I wanted to raise my head up to see, but the stubborn 5-year-old side of me disagreed. The warm hands reached around my frame and the stalwart feelings in my mind started to wane. Slowly, I lifted my head, and I heard a soft, but low voice whisper in my ear.

"Shh, it's ok Tori. Don't think about the storm, think about your songs."

_Moonlight Sonata…Midnight Escapade….Pachelbel's Canon…Heart and Soul…_

Piano pieces flitted through my mind at the suggestion, and my heart calmed its rabbit's pace. My eyes breached the knee-level and my hazel irises met the steely-blue of none other than Clint Barton.

"Clint…" I managed to squeak, my voice was a bit hoarse from being quiet.

"Shh, it's okay," he repeated, face stoic as he reached his hand up to wipe the tear streak. I blinked and nodded, and slowly the archer helped me stand. He helped me walk over to the others and he gave them a light scowl. "Wow, guys I didn't know any of you were so heartless as to ignore a teenage girl in distress. Really."

All of their eyes widened and simultaneously sputtered, looking down, and away.

"I know, this whole Loki thing is deep, but come on, don't take out your suspicions on Tori, seriously. Fifteen minutes? If I hadn't done something, would you have?" Clint questioned of his teammates. "I know it was killing _me_ to wait that long."

Thor immediately responded to this and took my hand and kissed it. _(I was glad my face was already red)._

"Lady Tori. Please forgive my actions, it was foolhardy to leave such a maiden as yourself in such distress when we were discussing plans of my brother," he apologized, his fist against his chest solemnly. I blinked a few times and gave an awkward smile.

Tony blinked in slight confusion, but nonetheless grinned. "Yeah, what he said. Sorry kid, this whole fiasco's a little taxing on us all." He reached out his hand and rumpled my hair. Bruce and Steve patted me on the back and Natasha only smiled, although her eyes were a different story. They seemed to still be distant, and calculating, as if trying to analyze the situation like this.

"So, you really are pretty scared of thunderstorms," Dr. Banner bantered, to which I muttered a quiet "Yeah."

"Lady Tori, do not be afraid of the storm. I would never allow you to be struck with any sort of lightning, so do not fret," Thor consoled, and that made me feel a little less afraid. Who else than the God of Thunder, am I right?

"Thanks Thor," I replied, symbolically wiping my face, because of course I wasn't crying anymore. I looked around and then sheepishly smiled. "If you guys still need time to talk about what you gotta do, I could…go down to the music room or the gym or something. Better than sitting around, ya know?" I offered to the heroes, to which they looked at each other and then nodded.

"Sure, JARVIS will make sure you get to where you wanna go, and he'll let ya know when we're done, sound good?"

"Yeah! Good luck with finding Loki; I'll see you all later!" I added, running to the elevator and grinned, spirits now recharged as the doors closed. I pressed the button of the floor I remembered the gym and pool was on. I felt like now was a good time to go swimming and clear my head.

* * *

I took off my turquoise green jacket and the jean shorts, leaving the ivory camisole and underwear. Tony's pool was fairly large and it had plenty of lap lanes and I grinned.

"Ohh I've missed this," I mused, taking off my shoes and plunging into the lukewarm chlorine water. I could feel the liquid flow around me and closing my eyes shut, I pushed off the bottom, swimming up for air. Gasping sharply for breath, I treaded around, looking around at the lap lanes, and then I took a deep breath and propelled myself underwater towards them. I breached the surface once again and began swimming freestyle, flooding my senses with the water, methodically getting into my old rhythm.

As I reached a 50, my mind began focusing less on the swimming, and began to roam aimlessly. I could still faintly hear the booms of thunder from outside.

I feel like wearing bows.

Bow ties are cool.

_BOOM. _

Cool is the opposite of warm.

Most gunshot victims experience a burning sensation.

_BOOM._

Guns are for killing.

_BOOM._

Can you die in real life if you die in a dream?

_BOOM._

That's what the bird says.

_BOOM._

The strange bird who knows things.

_BOOM._

In front of my eyes, in the hazy blurriness of no goggles seeing underwater, I saw a flash of gold and green. My eyes widened and I stopped my momentum, floating forward and looking around. There was nothing there, but blurry light blue fuzz. I heard a swishing behind me and I twirled around, but again seeing nothing.

I went back to the surface and coughed, rubbing my now-sore eyes. I scanned from above water to see if there was anything that I could see more clearly. A chillingly familiar voice echoed through my mind, sending goose bumps down my arms, despite my body temperature being normal.

_Little Tori Matthews, you think you're so safe_, the voice of the bird sang tantalizingly. I looked under the water, and lo, a clear image of the bird from my dream appeared underwater despite the haziness of the water's effect. It could have been my imagination but I could have sworn I saw it smile. _How wrong you are, little mortal. _

A blinding electric-blue light emanated from the bird and it transformed into a large, jet-black octopus with dark green rings and bright gold eyes. I began to panic and I swam towards the wall, fear bubbling through my system.

One of the tentacles grabbed my foot and I let out a gasp of air, fully in flight-mode. My legs went into overdrive kicking and thrashing wildly, but the grip became more and more solid the more I struggled. I couldn't believe what was transpiring, my throat was drying up, and I could hardly breathe and combat at the same time. Suddenly, my other foot was grabbed by another tentacle and all at once, I was dragged under the water. I grabbed the tentacles on my legs with as much force as I could muster, but quickly they too were snatched out of my control and I was trapped, quickly running out of air, staring into the piercing gold eyes of my enigmatic attacker. My mind was becoming foggy as I ran out of ideas and flooding with wasted adrenaline.

I couldn't think. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move. I was drowning. I was going to die.

I lost consciousness and everything went black as the octopus wrapped its tentacles around my whole body.

* * *

When Tori had left the room, the heroes all turned back to face each other.

"So what? Loki's famous words are common in kids afraid of storms," Bruce muttered, rubbing his glasses. "What's the big deal?"

"We all know that Loki is able to manipulate people," Natasha countered, thinking back to the event on the Helicarrier that nearly got them all killed. "Thor said that he felt Loki's magic, what if he's trying to do what he did again?"

"But we were all showing signs of being stressed and we were getting on each other's nerves," Steve interjected, recalling the fight that almost broke out between him and Tony. Thor nodded in agreement.

"I too remember, I was calling my comrades petty and tiny, something that only arrogant Æsirs that I used to be would have said," he added, crossing his arms.

"The only thing that Tori was acting funky with was with the storm, which was after Thunder Arms here called the warning," Tony adjoined.

"But we still don't know what happened here with the portal generator, and how it even managed to bring Tori here. If there is _something_ that Loki knows that we don't it'll put us at an immediate disadvantage," Natasha pointed out. "And it'll put all of us in danger, especially her."

Everyone acknowledged this quietly, Tony crossed his arms, and Clint leaned on the couch. All of a sudden, Thor looked up, shock coursing through his features.

"What's up Point Break?" Tony asked as Thor looked around wildly.

"It's Lady Tori, I believe she may be in danger!" he exclaimed, and Tony's face hardened.

"JARVIS, where did the maestro head off to?" the billionaire asked quickly.

"Miss Matthews took a route to the gym and pool area, sir," JARVIS responded.

"Alright, let's…where'd Point Break go?"

* * *

As soon as the AI spoke, the God of Thunder bolted out of the room, faster than any of his human companions could have responded. He already knew where to go, having been to the gym with Natasha the previous day. The pool was in the large room next to the gym, and the sinking feeling in Thor's large gut made him uneasy. He bounded, hammer in hand, towards the room.

He burst into the pool deck and gasped loudly at what he saw. A large black _thing_ was lurking in the deep end of the water and its appendages were wrapped around something, and the thunder god could only guess what that something was. Thor dropped his hammer on the ground and dove into the pool.

The thing seemed to respond to this, for as soon as Thor drew closer, the creature disappeared without a trace, leaving behind the unconscious Tori, suspended helplessly. Thor swam forward and grabbed the teen in both arms, then thrust himself out of the water and back onto the deck with his godly strength. He carried her to the entrance, where he was met by the rest of the team.

Bruce grabbed the Emergency CPR Aid Kit from the wall and Thor placed Tori on the ground in front of the others.

While the heroes were busy trying to resuscitate their fallen friend, none of them noticed the dull blue glow coming from between the cracks of her closed right hand.

* * *

**DUN DUN DUNNNNN! *flickers lights menacingly***

**:D so we got some big brother-y Clint action, and some suspicions passed around, "I" pretty much drown, and a heroic Thor moment YAY.**

**Oh yeah and the mysterious blue glow thing will come in later ;) I did some concept art and I got a really good idea from it X3 *squeals* YAAAAAYYY!**

**Special shout out to anyone who can guess the two fandoms I alluded to in the roaming thoughts sequence~ **

**The first one might be pretty easy but the second one is probably a little harder! Both are direct quotes! **

**Alright y'all, you know the drill! REVIEW! **

**let's see...chocolate covered pretzels might be a bit too fatty, so how about chocolate covered strawberries, huh? **

**~DarkMousyRulezAll, signing out to watch Bones. **


	10. Dreams and Discoveries, but short lived

**Heya everyone! :D I bet you really wanna read this chappie doncha, since I left off on a positively thrilling cliffie last chapter! MWAHAHAHAHAAAA! *evil grin***

**Well this chapter has got a bunch of thrills and chills so hold on to your pants peeps! :D**

**Little upset no one tried to guess the fandoms...I thought they were both obvious. Welp, they were Doctor Who and Bones, first and second. The whole Bow ties are cool is the Eleventh Doctor's catch phrase, and for Bones, the line about gunshot victims is a nod to the episode in season eight where Dr. Brennan gets shot with a blood bullet. (because she said it felt cold when she was shot)**

**Anyway...yeah. Time for review replies!**

**Review Replies from Chapter Nine:**

**AglonAuthor- _BOW TIES ARE AWESOME! ...OAO nooo don't beat your head think about your poor computer...here here's the next chapter DOn'T KILL YOURSELF PLEASE! Thanks for reviewing though, I take it you liked the cliffie ;)_**

**CrystalClear98- _haha thanks a bunch for sayin so! Yeah I love Bones! I just wish PELANT FREAKING DIED ALREADY JGWHEGSGJSMFSK *scuffles break loose* (thanks for reviewing)_**

**AmericanAirman- _ahh...thanks! and thanks for reviewing!_**

**_EDIT: From the future teehee XD! I got a review from good ol Liberty Bell this morning and she had a question for this chapter, so what the heck! _**

**_Liberty Bell's question, for Natasha: How do you feel having another (way younger) girl with you guys? Change of pace, right? Or are you as indifferent as I expect you to be?_**

**Natasha: You should never expect anything. If anything though, expect the unexpected. As for Tori, well, I agree it is different. She seems like a sweet girl and everyone's having fun with her. It's just not what we can do right now with Loki trying to take over Earth, and with that I really do feel bad.**

**Time for the disclaimer!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anythin but my OC!**

* * *

_**Avenger'd**_

_**Chapter Ten**_

It was black, pitch black, and the only sound I could hear was a faint dripping of water.

_Am I dead?_

That's the only thought running through my mind. I remembered it all. I was drowned by a big black octopus that used to be the green and gold bird. Ironic, I'm supposed to save people from drowning but I manage to get drowned myself.

A warm light began to shine and illuminated the area. I was lying in a forest clearing, the same as my dream. All in a sudden wave, everything felt heavy and unmovable, my head, my legs, my arms, even my breathing felt constricted.

"Am I dead?!" I voiced my thoughts, practically screaming into the open. There was nothing but silence that mocked me, and I began to cough. There was though, a soft sound that began to resonate through the wood, a melodic sound. It grew closer, and as it did, I could ascertain that the melodic sound was a laugh, bright and cheery, although it did nothing to raise my spirits. I struggled to lift my head and I growled as I saw that the origin of the laugh was none other than the bird.

"_Oh sweet little human, you're not dead," _the bird chuckled, landing atop my chest, to my disdain. It cocked its head in thought. _"But then again you're not really alive either."_

"What do you mean by that?"

"_You remember! You drowned; you gave those superhero friends of yours quite a scare. Lucky they got to you as fast as they did or you might have been dead."_

I started, and my body tensed, causing the bird to flutter off and land next to me. The Avengers…saved me…but…

"Why am I dreaming then? If they saved me, shouldn't I be awake or semi-conscious by now?" I inquired, persistent, but relieved that the others got to me. The bird smirked at me.

"_It's not that easy, Tori Matthews. You are in a state of in between life and death," _it explained._ "You won't get to either side with something as simple as what happened." _

I frowned in a petulant manner. Great…now what was I supposed to do? As if the bird heard me, it flew upwards and landed on my head.

"_Well now, you and I can spend some more time together. Won't that be fun?"_ it asked playfully with a grin. I growled and shook it off.

"No way bird-brain, last time I spent _'quality time'_ with you in this dreamscape I nearly died by falling off a rocky spire. No way in hell," I spat vehemently, glaring daggers. The bird stared at me for a while with a curious look before laughing darkly. A blinding electric blue glow erupted from the bird, similar to before in the pool, and it rose up in the air. After a few seconds, the light subsided and the bird was replaced with a large tiger, with shimmering gold fur and black stripes, and it had large emerald eyes that gave a paralytic gaze.

"_Who exactly is the bird-brain, human?"_ the tiger asked coyly. I shuddered in terror. The voice of the tiger was essentially the same, except it had a deeper tone and it was a silky snide that sent chills down my spine and was helplessly enthralling.

"Well….ah…" I couldn't form words; my mind was drawing a blank. The tiger stalked and placed its paw on my chest, making a loud gasp exit my lips. It stared down at me, and instantly I felt like a rabbit about to be eaten. The golden tiger grinned maliciously, showing off its huge white fangs.

"_Let's take a little trip, shall we, Tori Matthews?"_ it purred, pressing down on my chest, and only too late I realized that a large black hole was growing beneath my back and as the tiger pushed down, I sank further into the darkness, until there was nothing but black.

* * *

Dr. Banner and Tony stood on opposite sides of the bed where they had taken their unconscious friend, and the others were gathered in between them.

"How long has it been, doc?" Steve asked quietly, perfectly aware since the time he asked five minutes ago. Bruce understood this and figured he'd humor the captain as well as everyone else who probably felt the same way.

"Six hours, almost seven. Ask me in another fifteen minutes and it'll be there," Bruce deadpanned with a grim smirk. Steve didn't notice the dry humor, but almost paled at the implication of time.

"Seven hours?" he rasped, and Tony frowned deeply, as well as the archer and Thor. The Black Widow had no expression, but her eyes were full of storm clouds. Tony snorted heavily through his nose and shook his head.

"We shouldn't have let her leave with Loki still out there," he hissed under his breath. "She's just a kid, she didn't even wanna be here for crying out loud!"

Clint's face darkened as he responded to Tony. First he gets manipulated by Loki, now this…

"She's not dead is she?" the archer whispered, not taking his eyes off of the teen. The gamma scientist and the billionaire both shook their heads.

"She's still got a pulse, and she's still breathing, albeit slow for both," Dr. Banner said slowly, as if convincing himself of their wayward friend's life.

It was then that the super-spy noticed the teen's closed fist. She blinked curiously at it then alerted her comrades.

"Why is her hand closed? If she drowned, wouldn't her body go limp, including this?" she asked. The others nodded and then Steve subconsciously volunteered to pry her hand open. Except it wasn't working so well, to everyone's surprise.

It was as if her fingers were locked shut and even Captain America with his super-human strength had a hard time. Thor frowned and he, as gently as Æsir-ly possible, reached to assist in the prying. With the two of their combined strengths, they managed to crack open the fingers and a bright light escaped them and to the team's utter dismal loathing, the light was the familiar electric blue hue of the Tesseract and the gem that powered the god of mischief's staff.

They all sucked in a collective sharp breath, and Clint _really_ wished he could shoot through Loki's eye socket or both of them while he was at it.

That damn god just made things personal…again. Which had seemed impossible, but after the events of the past few days, the archer had learned to dismiss the meaning of impossible.

Steve's jaw hardened and he glared at the blue glow. "So, what the hell is that son-of-a-bitch doing with Tori? What is she to him besides the thing that came instead of his alien army?"

"That, Captain, is what we must find out," Thor stated monotonously, his heart aching for his brother. Why, Thor wanted to know. Why his brother, whom he loved as one despite his monstrous origins, had betrayed him and then attacked an innocent, another sign of betrayal, even after Thor had extended a hand of peace, to forget his conquest and return to Asgard.

Tony glared hard at Tori's hand, pulsing and thrumming with light, and exhaled.

"Let's get moving then. For the maestro," he added softly, gazing sensitively at the teen that became like the kid sister he never had. "One of us should stay with her, at a time, in case something happens."

Natasha raised her hand quickly and sternly but fondly glanced at the unconscious girl. "I'll volunteer," she said humorlessly, but with a dry twang. "You and Dr. Banner should run that algorithm you were talking about to track the Cube and Thor can sense the magic somewhat, right? And Clint and the Captain should be on lookout. I'll stay here."

The aforementioned team members nodded with vindication burning through them and they left, the Widow staying and sitting beside the bed, as if she could try and read the unconscious expressions on the teen's face.

* * *

I was floating in an abyss of darkness, cold and alone. I had partially, but disdainfully, hoped that even the bird-turned-tiger could give me company at the very least. I had given up trying to awaken a while ago, and my head was a jumble of confused haze that didn't make sense.

I had even given up trying to cry about it. Yeah, apparently, tear ducts didn't work in this dream _(even though they worked in my other one where I was falling to my doom due to that strange morphing creature, duly noted). _All of a sudden, a dull yellowish glow appeared beneath me and I was dropped into a dimly lit tunnel of some sort…well 'dropped' might not even be the right word, as I was floating…and _still_ was floating…

Aaghh all of this confusing crud was messing with my braaainnnn! It took me a few seconds, of course, but soon I realized I wasn't just hovering anymore: I was moving towards something…or someone. This tunnel lead somewhere, and where it went, I was most likely floating to.

Closer…and closer…I could barely make out the silhouette of a person, of course, my eyes could have been playing tricks. I'd seen nothing but animals up to this point…although each animal had distinct human characteristics: the snide smiles and laughter, the piercing eyes and the voice.

And as I continued to draw closer, my fears became whole. The image became solid, and the figure was revealed to be a man, quite tall, with those practically glowing emerald eyes and that wickedly cruel smile. He had long raven-black hair and he was wearing a dark suit and a rather small scarf. He had something behind his back that I could not see, but whatever it was gave a distinct blue hue around his figure.

"_Well hello there Victoria Matthews," _he said with a positively dodgy silk in his tone. His smile disappeared and was replaced with a curious smirk and a raised eyebrow. _"Or do you prefer the informal Tori?"_

This man held the piercing and paralytic look that the tiger had possessed. I was completely shell-shocked, unable to think or speak, let alone answer his question. The man laughed at my expression before leaning closer to my growing horror.

"_Come now, it's rude to ignore a person's question, is it not?"_ he prodded with a toothy manic grin. I shut my eyes and took the deepest breath I could muster.

"t-The l-latter," I muttered quickly, fear flooding my system. The man chuckled once more.

"_See that wasn't so hard,"_ he replied, before humming thoughtfully. _"Isn't it also rude to not look at a person when he is speaking to you?" _I shook my head wildly, even though I knew he spoke the truth. There was no way though. I couldn't talk, let alone _think,_ when I looked at him. He laughed, as if he could read my thoughts. _"Dear Tori, won't you look at me, I'm hurt."_

Nope. Not gonna do it.

"_Open your eyes and look at me when I talk to you."_

Not gonna. I made up my mind.

"_**Open your eyes now."**_

…my eyes had grown minds of their own. I was betrayed by my own body. Dammit. Within seconds of this whispered order, I was once again staring into the dark emeralds that were the mysterious man.

"_That's better,"_ he said with a sickening smile. The wheels began turning in my head just enough for the light bulb to light up.

"y-You…" I forced out, getting his attention. "y-You're the bird…a-and the octopus…and the tiger…you're the one who almost killed me and who's been invading my dreams and my mind!"

This accusation only seemed to make him happier, or just smile even more broadly _(which I guessed meant it was undoubtedly true). _He seemed just to not care, as if he was egging me on. I gave him a confused look, which also I used to hide my fear although I had a suspicion that wouldn't matter.

"_And?"_ he taunted, grinning devilishly and sending chills down my spine. _"You must have guessed the impossible by now. I am not human. I am much more than any mere human."_

The person chuckled and gave me a manic glint in his beastly green eyes. Slowly, he stepped to the side, revealing a bright, glowing electric blue cube that hummed and pulsed with energy and life. My eyes widened in terror and I looked agonizingly slowly from the man to the cube and back again. Hazy memories flashed into my head.

"_The Helicarrier is more than apt to __**track Loki**__ and it has all of the systems you used to track __**the Cube**__."_

"_Even someone like __**Loki **__couldn't have known the powers of __**the Cube**__, something in that __**weird magic relic**__ could have offset his original plan."_

"_That tornado could've sent __**interference with the Tesseract**__ and caused it to malfunction."_

"_Normal humans do not just fall out of the sky or disrupt the __**Tesseract**__!" _

"_**Loki**__!"_

I gaped dumbly at the figure standing proudly before me. It was as if all of the puzzle pieces of the world fitted into place. It all made sense.

"Loki…as in…God…of Mischief," I muttered, recalling my thoughts from when the Avengers first uttered the name. The figure only grinned expectantly. "You…you're…you're…" I couldn't get myself to say it. After everything that had happened, I couldn't wrap my head around this. "But…you can't be…and that can't be…" I looked to the bright glowing Cube that was giving me a bad feeling.

"_It is and I am,"_ the god purred silkily. _"You finally figured it out." _

"But…why?"

The unspoken phrase I didn't have the strength to say was _'Why me? Out of all of the other heroes…'_

Loki grinned. _"That's an easy one. You have a connection to the Tesseract and I have the power to use that connection to my advantage. Those blasted humans and my __**brother **__ruined my plans, and if not an army I wield, then their newfound little friend."_

My throat was becoming dry and my mouth moved without words.

"Why tell me?" I managed to ask. Loki gave a positively melodic, but wickedly dark laugh.

"_You foolishly naïve girl, what makes you think I'll let you leave with this memory intact?"_

My eyes widened significantly, but before I could protest, he flicked his hand and my mouth immediately shut.

"_Before you ask, I brought you here so I could see you. I admit the animals were amusing, but it's quite a different feeling when I am as I am,"_ he explained, raising his eyebrows and oscillating on his feet casually. _"I must say, up close, you are quite an interesting human, very interesting. Unlike that Romanoff. Much less…red."_

Loki snickered at his own statement. He reached out and grabbed my chin and pulled me closer. _"I am afraid…our time is coming to a close,"_ he whispered into my ear. _"My magic will only allow this for so long, so…"_ with his other hand he wielded a staff, with a glowing blue gem at its top.

He pressed the gem to my forehead and a blinding white exploded in my vision before my eyes drooped and I was falling into the god's arms, though apparently fading away.

"_Until we meet again, Tori Matthews."_

* * *

Tori's chest rose as she sighed, and the spy noticed as the blue glow dimmed and the teen's fist opened to reveal a small blue stone, still radiating a small amount of energy.

"This isn't good…" Natasha muttered, glaring daggers and hoping that her teammates had progressed.

* * *

**_Edit: (again from the future teehee XD) _**

**They don't call Loki "the Silvertongue" for nothing! MWAHAHAHAA! **

**And now the team's got serious worry on their hands! OH NUUU and now you guys the readers know something that the other characters don't! (that's called irony my friends!) OH NOO THE SUSPENSE OF NOT KNOWING WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN NEXT!**

**XD I had a lot of fun writing this sequence and now I'm probably gonna hit another bump (because honestly I have two ideas and neither of them are liking me)**

**Loki: Why don't you write a whole chapter dedicated to me?**

_**Me: ...what do you think this was? i was giving ya some face-time with my OC and a whole little power and manipulation thing WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT**_

**Loki: Do you really wanna know?**

_**Me: ...nope. ;) hahaha **_

**Alright then dear readers, please be good readers/writers and leave feedback in either clicking the button, or using that convenient little box riiiigghhht below these words! Feel free to ask questions, seriously, and those who review get chocolate covered strawberries. Or yogurt covered in case you like those better. **

** AND REVIEW ABOUT THE CHAPTER PLEASE don't just be one of those people who write like one word or leave the box open and I get a review that says "Type your review for this chapter here..." **

**Because it's happened. and it's not that funny...we writers get our hopes up when we get emails labeled "Fanfiction"! Reviews are the lifeblood of a writer's life after all.**

**Anyway...REVIEW! _(and sorry if I seem pushy it's just...I get a little ticked off after the last three reviews for another story of mine were those :P)_**

**~DarkMousyRulezAll, signing out to brainstorm _(And get ready for school in a weeeekkkk NOOOOO)_**


	11. Salt and Pepper

_**Heeyyooo y'all! What's happenin?**_** I see that it's been a good while since I posted chapter eleven, and after a self-talk-through of the next couple of chapters I figured I'd boot up the ol' idea train and keep writing along! School's been a _freakin pain in the side_ but meh life goes on sadly, and I'm a junior now, in it with the big leagues. **

**Upside, not a whole ton of homework lately and I got to go to the Renaissance Festival this past weekend (and it's almost the weekend again thank GOD) and hey I'm still alive :D **

**So yeah thanks for sticking with me everybody! Let's get this show on the road!**

**Review Replies from Chapter Ten:**

**krikanalo- _heh, thanks, and I will. Or I'll DIE TRYING *srs face* XD thanks for the review!_**

**TheStoryTeller231- _ha I like your username! Very cool! ...huh...yeah age is important I mean I am kinda on the Pepperony train and the Clintasha and SteveBeth trains as well oh yeah and ThorJane/ThorSif and BrucexWhoever-that-guy-can-find XD but idk that Loki thing was kinda my own fanservice thing but idk maybe she and Loki might have a spark maybe *shrug* it's more of a "I understand your pain and I sympathize with you" in my head kinda thing but of course Loki is all like "No I'll be all seductive and pervy to mask my feelings" and *shrruuggg* I dunno but yeah thanks for the review!_**

**Arabelle/Liberty Bell(Guest)- _well you're not going TOTALLY insane :D I get reviews from you guys while I write so probably you unconsciously help me write for the next chapters, and since the questions help me get into character i dunno it subtly influences what gets put in the chapter ^^ but not completely, sometimes it WAS just a coincidence! haha! And don't worry I put your question into the previous chapter for ya because it kinda fit :3 YAY A question for Brucie! Thanks for the review, even if it was late, I still really appreciate it!_**

**_Guest (8/13/13) - Thanks, glad you love it!_**

**_dragonteehee1- that's okay, you reviewed now that's what matters! woaaahh yeah haha just a bit of fanservice there not really. I think of it as that because well you know that happened in my head heheh...^^; thanks I'm glad you thought it was good and able to be visualized. ooohh yeah I'll have fun yeah *sarcasm school is not fun meh but thanks for wishing me well anyway* thanks for the review!_**

_**Liberty Bell's Question for Bruce: I hear from some other fanfics that you're a huge fan of classical music because it keeps you calm. If that's true here, too, then having Tori must be a huge blessing and you might not want to let her go just yet. Am i right?**_

**Bruce: Classical music, definitely my favorites. There's no evidentiary support, but something about it seems to keep the Other Guy at bay without me having to be angry all the time, you know? And well, yeah it's really nice to have Tori here. She's really sweet and her piano playing is stupendous. I know we all wanna help her as much as possible, but I guess you're right. It's nice just to forget the whole Loki business and spend time with her and all of us. Brings us together as more than "heroes"...**

**Disclaimer Time! **

**Heya guys, if you can talk to me and be my muses does that mean I OWN YO U?**

_**Everyone: nope**_

**Me: *gloom* ...you all answered at the same time wow my heart just got crushed *grows mushrooms in Tamaki's emo corner***

* * *

_**Avenger'd**_

_**Chapter Eleven**_

There was nothing but a thin blurry haze of images that ran across the insides of my subconscious, and in no less than a few minutes, the images faded to black. I let out a dull groan, and as my consciousness was rousing, I could hear in the back of my ear the faint echo of that sound. I didn't want to wake up. Nope.

I didn't want to because that would mean I'd have to deal with the awful tiredness throughout another long period of time, and have to face the Avengers…after that whole spiel I didn't really have the heart to. Either way, this whole situation felt extremely déjà vu-like; it was extremely disconcerting.

My eyelids fluttered and slowly but surely I felt the veil of sleep finally lift from my body. I tossed to the other side and before I realized it, I was awake and staring at the cream-colored wall, lit by the sunlight streaming in from the window. My eyes flitted sluggishly around the room and they landed on a figure sitting on a chair next to the bed, down by my feet.

It was Dr. Banner, and I felt a tired smile weave itself onto my face. He was asleep, hands on his face, marks of concern still etched into his features. I blinked slowly and leaned over towards the gamma doctor. My action seemed to stir him and he looked at me in surprise.

"You're awake," he stated plainly, but it was evident in his voice that he was worried. I nodded slowly, looking down. I didn't know what to say.

"h-How long was I…?"

"Twelve and a half hours, give or take a few minutes," Bruce replied softly, glancing up at me. I paled at this. Twelve and a half _hours_?

"What happened? How did this even…I don't remember…" I muttered placing my hand on my forehead. Dr. Banner took a slow breath.

"When you left, we were discussing Loki and the conditions of your arrival and then Thor ran off and said that you were in danger. Next thing we know, he's carrying you unconscious in his arms. You drowned, Tori. You were barely breathing," he explained in a grave tone, and I could only stare at his face in shock as the gravity of events struck me in the forefront of my mind.

"We took you in here and tried to resuscitate you, but you stayed in a coma-like state. We found out that this could have been through Loki's magic, and so Tony and I have been running programs to try and track Loki and the others have been keeping watch. Natasha was looking after you until about an hour ago."

I looked down at my hands and gaped. On my right palm there was a blue circle that had not been there previously. Dr. Banner noticed this and then rubbed his chin.

"Natasha said that there had been some kind of stone that you were holding and I have a theory that it was what kept you in the coma, but when I came down, it was just that circle. It could have melded into your system, like a bio-synchronization."

"Huh…" I whispered softly. "Well isn't that just the icing on the cake?"

"Did you have any sort of weird dream?" he asked with a concerned, yet stoic expression. I nodded. There were the animals….then….

_-A blinding white exploded in my vision-_

I quickly shook my head. I remembered the bird, and its laughing and then the tiger, being pushed into a black hole…then that white light. I had a sinking feeling that there was something in between those two events but I couldn't remember. I relayed to the gamma scientist what I _did_ remember. He didn't say anything, but only patted my hand.

"I should let the others know that you're awake," he said after a minute of uncomfortable silence, switching the topic. I bowed my head slowly and then he left the room, leaving me alone. Only a few minutes later, though, I was promptly squished in between the arms of the God of Thunder.

"Lady Tori, I had feared you would never awaken from the clutches of slumber!" he bellowed, squeezing me to the point my lungs were waving white flags in my chest. "I should have never left you to do battle with that heinous beast in the water alone!"

"It…wasn't…your…fault!" I managed to squeak out between sharp breaths. "Thank…you…for…saving…me!"

Thank goodness he let go of me at this, and gave me the most heart-warming smile of relief that he could give. But shortly after, I was crushed by another pair of arms _(named Clint Barton and Steve Rogers, duly noted.)_

"Are you okay? You didn't sprout any third-arms or antlers did you?" Clint asked, quite childishly concerned, but it made me smile as I shook my head.

"I'm fine, Clint!" I answered as cheerfully as I could, and he gave me a tired smile in response.

"You gave us _all _quite a scare Tori," Steve said softly, his baby blues relaying so much more emotion than what appeared. I chuckled hollowly.

"Sorry for that. I kinda scared myself for a while," I added with a lopsided grin. Natasha walked over and patted me on the back.

"We're glad you're feeling better now," she said with what seemed to me as an uncharacteristic act of familiarity but hey- maybe I was growing on her. I looked around at them all, and then a small frown adorned itself on my face.

"Where's Tony?" I asked. Speak of the devil, and Murphy's Law, I heard the genius billionaire's voice enter the room.

"Sorry I'm late, had to run to the airport," he commented with a devilish grin whilst striding into the room, giving no impression that he was worried sick about his surrogate-kid sister. "Glad to see you're alive and kicking, maestro."

But Tony wasn't alone. Walking in behind him, grabbing his hand was a slender, petite woman with fiery red-orange hair, like an autumn leaf. She was dressed in a casual business suit and her hair was pulled back into a wavy ponytail.

"Hi," she greeted politely with a warm smile. I waved my non-tattooed hand awkwardly.

"Hi," I reciprocated. The woman gave a sharp expectant glance to Tony and his face lit up in realization.

"Oops, sorry, my bad," he goofed, running his hand through his unruly brown hair. "Maestro Tori Matthews, meet the lovely Pepper Potts. Pep, this is Tori." He looked pleased with himself after introducing us and we all just gave small chuckles.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Tori," she said, shaking my hand.

"You too, Pepper," I replied. "Tony's told me a lot about you!"

"All good things I hope."

Tony shivered unconsciously.

"Haha yeah all good things. You guys must be pretty close huh?"

"Yes, we are," Pepper replied with a smile. She then looked around, noticing the others in the room. "Wow, this must be really bad if all of the Avengers are here…which I know nothing about," she added after seeing the positively troubled look on Tony's face.

Yes, it was _very_ bad, and about to get worse unbeknownst to the rest of us.

* * *

**psshh I know that was awful ending #1 right there but I wanted to segway into the next chapter and I had a certain framework and dialogue in my head so I had to end it here yup.**

**Tony: YEAH PEPPER YOU BROUGHT HER IN I LOVE YA *goes off to do god knows what***

**Loki: meheheeheheh I'm becoming more prominennnttt weheheheheh *rubs hands together***

**Thor: STAY AWAY FROM LADY TORI, BROTHER! *smashes in with Mjolnir* **

**Loki: It's ON, _Odinsson_!**

**Me: ...*slinks away***

**Review please! Reviews are love! **

**Feel free to ask questions of any of my muses as well! It not only helps the writing but it's fun roleplaying too! Ask away world, ask away!**

**~DarkMousyRulezAll, signing out for the night!**


	12. The Final Lesson

**Heyoo! Another installment of Avenger'd! WOOO! Hope you guys were ecstatic to get this email alert cuz I am excited to be posting this! I'm sorry it hasn't been sooner but I had a really hard time transitioning this chapter and plus with school and crud, there's the works. Upside, I did get the blu-ray combo pack of Iron Man 3 (and the new Marvel One-Shot Agent Carter is A-MAY-ZING!) and Thor The Dark World is coming out in a MONTH! :D**

**Little upset at the lack of some recurring reviewers but I guess since it's schooltime...**

**Review replies from Chapter 11:**

**Concrete63- _haha you're welcome! I'm glad you're enjoying it! ...Loki isn't really bad necessarily . I am planning some big mushy scene involving the God of Mischief so...*spoiler I haven't revised yet but still spoiler yeahp* Thanks for reviewing!_**

**koryandrs- _thank you and thank you! I'm glad you like Tori's development! Thanks for continuing to review!_**

**Liberty Bell(guest)- _heyoo! naah I won't slap you. Maybe just a light scolding. XD oh wow a freshie! I was a freshman once. Then something called time was invented and decided it didn't want to be my friend and keep me young forever. Thanks for saying so! (and you haven't asked Loki a question yet ;3 ) Oh wow a question for "me"? Hahaha oh lord you're REALLY going to think I rigged this chapter now XD_**

**_Liberty Bell's question, for Tori Matthews: I know hanging out with the Avengers and being manipulated and harassed by everyone's favorite God of Mischief is time-consuming, but aren't you the LEAST bit concerned about how your family back home feel? They must be devastated! Imagine losing YOUR sixteen-year-old daughter to a whirlpool of every Marvel junkie's wildest dreams?!_**

**Tori: *can't speak due to LB hitting every note on the cord* *whispers* I-I am concernedbutbutbutbut I I just I don't know you know I don't know whether things are moving along or if I'm missing and they're worried it's not like I can do inter-dimensional texting! *melts into a pile of feels that will give away chapter spoilers XD***

**Dramatic Disclaimer:**

**DAAH DAHHH DAAAAAAHHH *fanfare***

**I. OWN. NOTHING. HAZAAHH!**

* * *

_**Avenger'd**_

_**Chapter Twelve**_

I sat on the bed and everyone else stood around, silent and unmoving. Pepper stood next to Tony, Clint and Natasha stood beside each other by the door and Bruce and Steve were by the bed. Thor kept pacing for the last minute, which seemed to be an extremely unusual action for the god. He turned around to look at all of us.

"There must be more that we can do to find my brother," Thor bellowed in a rumbling voice. Tony rubbed his face tiredly.

"We're running the same systems and programs as we did on the Helicarrier and it took a little to place that the Cube was here at the Tower," Tony replied quietly. "We had no idea where Loki was before they brought it here and that's probably where he is now."

Clint scowled, I noticed, and looked away at this statement. Natasha gripped his arm and gave him a firm glance with those dark emeralds of hers. Thor frowned deeply and gripped Mjolnir at his side. I looked down at my hand and studied the mark for a few seconds. Bio-synchronization, huh? I rose up my head.

"Hey, ah, do you think we could scan this?" I asked, holding up my marked palm. The others looked quite shocked at my proposal. "You know, see if the signature of the frequency matches anywhere else instead of just guessing a gamma signal or something."

Bruce and Tony exchanged curious glances at one another, before Tony cracked a smile.

"Good idea there, maestro! Why didn't I think of that?" he jested and smiled to Pepper and the Avengers, but what I didn't notice at first was the flicker of worries and doubt in his chocolate brown eyes. Steve helped me get up and he gave me a concerned glance with those beautiful baby-blues of his that just freaking stared into my soul.

"Are you sure you'd want to do that? I mean, none of us know what could happen…" he said softly. I was surprised by this comment, and I took a second to nod slowly.

"Even if it's a little unpredictable, I want to help you guys," I replied solemnly. "You all have done so much to help me, I want to return the favor, you know?"

Thor walked over and patted my head, ruffling my hair. "You are a brave and kind, Lady Tori."

I lowered my head in a half-nod, trying not to blush at his statement.

"Where can we do this?" I asked, glancing around to all of the people gathered in the room. Tony stepped forwards, next to Clint and Natasha.

"I've got a rig set up in the lab," he stated, crossing his arms, but pointing in the direction of the door.

"Alright, then, let's go," I said, intent on delving into the mysteries that had been brought up.

* * *

At the lab, Tony set up my arm in a large device reminiscent of one of those blood-pressure checkers you see at grocery stores and doctor's offices, except it covered my entire arm and hand.

Clint patted me on the shoulder reassuringly, and to my left, Bruce, Steve, and Tony were at a set of glass-screen flat computer monitors. Natasha and Pepper were stationed watching JARVIS's security feed. _(Pepper was watching the feed, while Natasha was watching Pepper on favor of Tony, duly noted)_. Thor had his hand firmly grasped around Mjolnir, glancing out the large window.

"Now," Tony said, firing up his systems, "This will send a special kind of energy beam cooked up by Brucie here that will scan up your arm and analyze the rays and frequencies that little tattoo of yours is giving off."

I nodded detachedly, and Clint muttered, "It's gonna be fine, kid."

Bruce gave a thumbs-up and, with a crooked smile, I raised my left hand and gave a thumbs-up as well.

For a moment, I noticed a flash of immense worry on all of their faces as the machine hummed to life- _and then it became eternity._

The second that beam hit my palm, I felt an odd shock wave course through my arm and spread through my body, then everything froze. I blinked my eyes and looked around, and it all was indeed stuck the moment that the energy touched. The looks of worry on all of their faces remained and I saw them all. I saw them all.

I bit my lip in confused frustration. What had just happened?

"_Oh, nothing of importance, really. I just stopped some time to talk," _a hauntingly familiar voice rang out.

No…that was impossible-!

"_I believe your friend Captain Rogers had informed you that the realm of possibility is quite large,"_ the voice of the shape-shifter replied, having heard my thoughts.

I turned around as much as I could and I came face-to-face with the emerald irises of a black cat. For a brief minute, I was paralyzed. I wanted to scream and run away, hide behind one of my newfound wayward friends, but my body would not cooperate with my wishes.

After a few seconds, I managed to speak, "What are _you_ doing _here?_ You realize that when the Avengers see you they'll gut you!" I tried to sound threatening, but I only made myself sound like a whining child. The cat leaned back and laughed in response.

"_Smart girl, but you see that's why I froze time. They won't move unless I let it be,"_ he purred. _"I can do whatever I want." _I tried my hardest to glare at him. _"But you are correct in a sense I suppose. I cannot hold this forever, which is why I simply have a message for you: a lesson, so to speak."_

"A lesson in what, exactly?"

"_Why, yourself of course! But to be more precise, your greatest fear."_

My breath hitched and I struggled to retain composure. Dear god if he was going to pull the same stunt as he did in my dream!

"Didn't you already exhaust your 'talent for lessons' in that theatrical performance a couple nights ago?" I retorted, causing the cat to smile, which sent shivers down my spine.

"_Oh yes, that was indeed amusing, but this has much more substance," _he murmured silkily. _"You see, storms, falling, and darkness are all excellent fears to prey on, but those things are mere child's play when compared to what really digs at your soul!"_

"You-!"

"_You're afraid that you'll be forgotten, that you'll never be special, or important enough for adequate attention from your peers, or even the world around you. That you're just another leaf in the wind, blowing by with the others and will be stepped on and forgotten by a person, a human."_

Every word was just another arrow through my chest, another weight in my heart.

"w-What do you know?" I combatted weakly, barely able to speak.

"_I know that people walked all over you. They took advantage of your kindness and courtesy and trust. Everything anyone said was just a front; for when the judgment time came, they showed their true colors and brushed by you like you were yesterday's news. And poor Tori Matthews, wondering what she did wrong, crying on the inside as the days went on."_

I became choked up, tears stinging my eyes, and I had nothing to say, nothing to rebut. I could only listen as the shape-shifter kept talking on.

"_Your dearest friends, you had before, and now you can barely look them in the eye. Why is that little human? Because they betrayed your trust. They walked over you and forgot you. Went on with their lives like you were the Black Plague, and they were newly cured."_

"So what?" I whispered. "That was then and this is now. It's different." The cat smirked.

"_Ah, but you see, it's not. For I have found your world Tori Matthews, and your nightmare is a reality." _

His tail twitched and with a chuckle, he leaped over to Tony and snatched a tablet out of the man's still hands. He pressed a paw on the screen, and a live video feed came up, from different areas familiar to me: the pool where I lifeguarded, my school, my house, my parents' work.

The timestamp was today's date, and in every feed there was nothing abnormal besides the fact that I was not present. The students went through classes, my friends had no worry on their faces, and I was absent from any classroom. My parents were working diligently but there had been no 9-1-1 calls or emergency communications in their history.

I buried my head in my hand, unable to look anymore, tears coming out of my eyes like waterfalls, sobs shaking my body. I felt a nudge on my arm and I looked up, the cat's eyes blinking curiously at my own.

"_You see those looks of worry on their faces?"_ the cat said, gesturing to Tony, Steve, Bruce, Clint, and Thor. _"Those are there because they do not know what to do with you. They are at indecision._ _But mark my words Tori Matthews; your precious Avengers will betray you just like the others." _

"You don't know that!" I blurted, face becoming red. "They….they promised they'd help me and that they'd never turn me over!"

"_Can you really say that with confidence, why, you're scaring them into betrayal right now!"_

Wait…what?

"_**Tori!"**_

I grasped my head and shook it and the cat grinned, turning his back on me.

"_Remember my words, they will betray you, because they are only human."_

I was being throttled. Hard.

I blinked rapidly and with every time the scene changed from the still image to a different moving one: Tony grasping my shoulders with the others all circled around me, the tablet that the cat had taken now in Bruce's hands. I saw the faces of concern but I could not focus on them. The only thing I heard was his voice.

"_They will betray you."_

* * *

**Dun dun dunnnnnn! **

**DUN **

**DUN**

**FREAKIN DUN**

**So Liberty Bell, does _that_ answer your question? *evil grin***

**This chapter begins a series of points that will bring about the climax! MWAHAHAHAHHAAAA IM SO EVIL AHAHAA *cough cough cough hack hack***

**So please leave reviews (_and questions pls_) and I will be immensely happy!**

_**~DarkMousyRulezAll, signing out!**_


	13. A Different Perspective of Things

**Heyo all you readers! Today the 9th and 10th graders at my school are taking the PSATs so I don't have to come in until after 4th period! So I figured, hey, why not update Avenger'd for all my followers and the rest of the community and brighten up their days! :D**

**This chapter is set up a little bit differently as it is set in 3rd Person POV from the Avengers in the events of Chapter Twelve and a little bit further~! You guys are in for a bit of a surprise! Hahahaha!**

**Those of you who still continue to read but are unable to review, I feel ya. Please take your time with whatever you gotta do and come and review when you get your chances. I appreciate it either way, cuz I know you guys are still loving the story, right? **

**Review Replies from Chapter Twelve:**

**Concrete63-_ haha yeahp! Suspense is my middle name! :D ...well actually it isn't, but I LOVE it. Writing it, I mean. Reading it I get just as riled up as anyone else! Thanks for reviewing!_**

**koryandrs- _I'm glad you think it's interesting! and I'm also glad you like the way I write the Avengers! I try my best haha! Thanks for continuing to review!_**

**Liberty Bell(guest)- _MWAHAHAA! :D SUSPENSE! Seriously tho, you should've seen me write Return of the Nightmare dear lord I had so much fun with all the suspense. Well this question might not fit~ teehee! I agree we need to rack in more questions! I hope this chapter will bring in more questions since there's a lot of intense stuff! MWAHAHAHA! XD and don't worry about it, I know you'll always be reading even if you're late! Thanks for continuing to review, friend!_**

**_Liberty Bell's Question, for Loki: If Tori didn't, like,"Rain on Your Parade" during the almost-invasion, would you, oh, i don't know, actually BE FREAKING NICE TO HER?! Or would you still mess with her (because you can)? I understand that if it weren't for her ruining the invasion, she wouldn't even be there, but let's just say she was *magically* there with the Avengers somehow. Would you be kind?_**

**Loki: tch, mortal, you ask too many frivolous questions! But I will answer nonetheless *since I am forced to* _(shoots a glare at me) _Nice? You mean have sentiment? Towards that human girl? Well, if she hadn't entered this world, she'd be like any other human, just a pawn to be used. There is no sentiment about that. But if she were just with those lost creatures somehow on her own? I still might use her for leverage against my brother and those fools. However...I am interested in miss Tori Matthews to say the least, since she is from another world like Earth...but seems to have experienced similar exclusion as me... _(he shakes his head and growls) _But that is not the priority as of now! _-Vengeance is-_**

**_Disclaimer!_**

**I do not own the Marvel Cinematic Universe or its characters! The only thing I own is "myself", Tori Matthews, and this plot bunny!**

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_**Avenger'd**_

_**Chapter Thirteen**_

Tony wrung his hands nervously as he led the party of Tori and the Avengers to his lab. In truth, he had no idea whether the system he had set up would work or not. He had put it together while the maestro was still in that Loki-fied coma, and the genius's emotions had been in rage-mode in layman's terms. He glanced over to Natasha and as discreetly as possible pulled her over while walking.

"I need you to do me a favor," he whispered in a low voice, unaware, or uncaring, that Steve and Tori were in audible range. The Black Widow gave him a cool but accepting look. "I need you to protect Pepper. I haven't calculated the possibilities and if something blows up I don't want her to be there."

Natasha nodded in understanding. Tony didn't relay his personal feelings much, but from her undercover experience she knew how much Pepper meant to him.

"Just…have her look over JARVIS's security feeds for surveillance above deck," the billionaire suggested as they continued walking.

As promised, Natasha watched over Pepper under pretense of helping surveillance, while the men went down into the lab with Tori. Bruce hooked up Tori to the scanner, which everyone agreed looked like a modified blood-pressure-checker, and then he and Tony and Steve stood a few feet away at the control panel, trying to look encouraging. Cap almost grimaced, however, watching Thor become solemn staring out the window to the city.

The god seemed distracted and increasingly concerned, which didn't settle well with the soldier. Clint patted Tori on the shoulder as gently as he could muster, as dark thoughts swirled through his mind. He could barely stand it, that demon of a god took away his freedom and then almost killed an innocent girl!

"Now," Tony explained to Tori, firing up the systems, silently praying, "This will send a special kind of energy beam cooked up by Brucie here that will scan up your arm and analyze the rays and frequencies that little tattoo of yours is giving off."

Tori gave a slow, almost detached nod and Hawkeye whispered words of consoling as a final attempt of easing all of their minds. Shakily, Bruce looked to Tony, and then gave a thumbs-up to the teen, who replied with a thumbs-up from her left hand. The three men watched the holographic reconstruction of the inside of the machine as the beam neared Tori's palm.

Closer…

Closer…

And then suddenly!

A noise indescribable to human ears erupted from the machine and was humming at a high frequency as the beam concentrated itself on the girl's palm. The sound surprised them, and knocked them back a little. Unbeknownst to the others, Clint's face went ghostly pale. Bruce and Tony stared wide-eyed at the codes popping up on every corner of the screen, and Steve gaped at them.

"What is that?" he asked in a whispered tone. Bruce answered after about a minute of his eyes listlessly scanning the tablet screen in Tony's hands.

"These are the frequencies that the beam is picking up from the mark on Tori's hand! I've never seen anything quite like these, except in…"

"The Tesseract," Thor boomed quietly, making his way over to the others. Bruce nodded.

"The gamma signature was just as complex but many times weaker than this signal, since the Tesseract was so far away. But…if I could just search the globe for this signature, it should find the Cube or Loki's staff, and judging from the way he retreated, it's not likely he's separating himself from it anytime soon."

Tony laughed in triumph and Bruce reciprocated as both geniuses were proud of their work. It was then that Steve noticed the pallid archer, whose face was blank with an unspeakable maelstrom of emotions.

"Barton? What's wrong?" he asked with concern. He walked over next to the archer and looked at his point of view. Steve, too, paled, but his face became that of intense heart-crushing. "Dear God…" he whispered, his face the epitome of grimaces. The other three, now afraid, joined their comrades and each cursed in rage.

For their unwitting maestro had become frozen in some sort of paralysis, shock etched into her features. And her eyes were that sickly electric blue. It was as if the girl had become catatonic, mouth barely twitching as if in some silent conversation. Thor growled in anger.

"We must free her from this!" he bellowed, aiming Mjolnir at the machine before the others could react.

Before the sacred hammer could smash the mechanism, however, a shockwave surrounding the device countered the power and knocked Thor's arm backward, dragging the God of Thunder along with it. The burly blonde Æsir stared with incredulity at Tori's figure, then at the machine.

"What sorcery is this?" he scowled. "That not even my hammer can break through?" Tony glowered at the now-invisible barrier then patted Thor's arm.

"Don't take it too hard, Point Break. Loki probably knew you were gonna try and thunder hammer the maestro to freedom," the billionaire reassured with a dark vehemence lacing his words. Clint finally managed to breathe.

"Banner, Stark, what the _hell_ is happening to her?" he inquired with extreme concern. Dr. Banner took the tablet out of Tony's hands that were threatening to crush it and looked at the still-active program that displayed a holographic image of the inside of the machine.

"It seems that the interaction between the frequencies caused a break in the stasis," Banner tried to explain; his dark eyes squinted at the screen. "Some buildup of this magic energy let loose and now Tori's stuck in paralysis. Something is going on that we can't see and Loki's behind it, and unless it ends or we pull her out of it, she's going to stay like this."

Clint growled furiously, Thor cursed in an unknown dialect, Steve clenched his fists tightly, lips drawn together in a thin line, and Bruce took the time to breathe, but hesitantly, almost _wanting_ the Other Guy to go loose and beat the trickster god to a bleeding pulp.

In frustration, the genius billionaire grabbed Tori's free hand and, all of a sudden, he felt a spark on his skin and in front of his eyes was a blurred vision of a black cat, and a video screen. He heard a strikingly familiar voice say fragmented phrases:

"_Your dearest friends….betrayed your trust…went on with their lives…you were the Black Plague…they were newly cured…I have found your world…your nightmare is a reality…"_

He was shocked out of the sounds by the same phenomena, and then his mind went blank. Tori's face which was previously frozen in expression was now marked with trails of saline liquid, coloring her cheeks a fiery red. Tony, with a wild fear and fury in his brown eyes, shook his surrogate little sister with all that he could.

"Tori! Snap out of it kid! Come on!" he yelled frantically at her dazed and frozen expression. He kept throttling her and it took arms and shouts from Steve, Bruce, and Clint to stop him. He clutched his hands on her shoulders tightly and tensed his shoulders in anguish.

All of a sudden, Tori's eyes began to blink! And each time they did so, the preternatural electric blue irises were replaced with the girl's normal warm hazel, and the shock melted away into a pensive look. She seemed preoccupied by something and didn't seem to notice the tears staining her face, or everyone standing around her.

Tony remained quiet about what he had seen and heard, but was relieved and happy all the same when the teen was released from the magic. The Avengers took a collective sigh and stepped back from their friend and she began to look around dazedly as if she were confused about her whereabouts.

"Tori," Clint said softly, causing her to direct her attention towards him. "Are you okay?"

Tori blinked slowly and grew uncertain, evident in her face. But, to everyone's surprise, she just shrugged and smiled at the archer.

"Yeah, I'm not dead or in a coma or anything," she replied light-heartedly. "Everything's working all right. It's you guys I'm worried about!"

This comment also surprised the team.

"What do you mean Lady Tori? Why are you worried for us?" Thor asked, crossing his arms. She gave a crooked smile as if it were common knowledge.

"Well, you guys were frozen in time, I'd think that would be pretty taxing, don't you?" she quipped in a casual manner. No one answered and in the silence Tori's face fell. "You guys…were…frozen," she repeated, more softly. Solemnly, each of the heroes portrayed on their faces that it wasn't true, unable to say the words. Tori bit her lip nervously. "But it wasn't a dream," she whispered, looking down at her feet. "When you turned the machine on, the beam hit my hand and then everything froze…" The teen looked again at the Avengers. "I don't…understand."

Bruce shut the machine off, and silently Thor removed Tori's right arm from the device. She paled when she turned her arm to see her palm. The circle on her hand was glowing bright blue, and after a few seconds, the light faded to nothing. Her eyes widened in realization and she looked to the others and their faces confirmed the suspicion.

The teen lowered her head and clenched her teeth. "I'm sorry." Steve put his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't be," he replied simply and softly.

"Yeah, maestro," Tony chimed, a façade of jubilance placed on his face that wasn't quite as fake as he stood over the control panel for the machine, a grin forming. "Thanks to you, we now know the slimy cave where that son of a bitch Loki is hiding."

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_**DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNN!**_

_**LOKI IS REVEALED!**_

_**HAHAHAHAHA!**_

**Well then *flickers lights menacingly* **

**REVIEW if you can, and feel free to ask me or any of my muses any questions that your little hearts desire! Thank you muchly~**

**~DarkMousyRulezAll, signing out! **


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